Given below are two statements, one levelled as Assertion (A) and the other levelled as Reason (R): Assertion (A): All events seem entirely loose and separate. They seem conjoined but never connected. Reason (R): Causal relationships are contingent and probable. In the context of the two statements, which one of the following is correct?

Given below are two statements, one levelled as Assertion (A) and the other levelled as Reason (R): Assertion (A): All events seem entirely loose and separate. They seem conjoined but never connected. Reason (R): Causal relationships are contingent and probable. In the context of the two statements, which one of the following is correct? Correct Answer Both (A) and (R) are correct, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (R).

The correct answer is Both (A) and (R) are correct, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (R).

Key Points

• Hume theory of causation
  • Hume's is rightly the most celebrated thinking on causation in the history of all philosophy.
  • The question it asks is what the connection really is between an effect and what precedes it. 
  • The difficulty occurs in contemplating the operations of mind on the body; where we observe the motion of the latter to follow upon the volition of the former; but are not able to observe or conceive the tie, which binds together the motion and volition, or the energy by which the mind produces this effect.
  • The authority of the will over its own faculties and ideas is not a whit more comprehensible: So that, upon the whole, there appears not, throughout all nature, any one instance of connection, which is conceivable by us.
  • All events seem entirely loose and separate. One event follows another, but we never can observe any tie between them. They seem conjoined but never connected. Hence, the Assertion is correct.
  • A causal relationship exists when one variable in a data set has a direct influence on another variable.
  • Thus, one event triggers the occurrence of another event.
  • A causal relationship is also referred to as cause and effect.
  • Causal relationships are contingent and probable. Hence, the Reason is correct.