Universal causation

Universal causation is the proposition that everything in the universe has a cause and is thus an effect of that cause. This means that if a given event occurs, it is necessarily the result of a previous, related event. If an object is in a certain state, then it is in that state as a result of another object interacting with it previously.

Western philosophy has been concerned with the idea of universal causation for ages. The authors' formulations however contain profound differences in methodology and philosophical assumptions.

Contemporary philosophers who believe in exception-less, universal, fundamental laws of nature are referred to as "fundamentalists" ; those who reject such a position are referred to as "pluralists". The latter category is minoritary in modern debate.