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What Is Primary & Secondary Causes?

Many philosophers have discussed the concept of primary and secondary causes. However, the majority of work in this area can trace its roots back to René Descartes, and any discussion of primary and secondary causes can be viewed through the prism of whether you agree or disagree with his views. The most commonly debated issue is the relationship between the primary and secondary causes.

  1. Primary Cause

    • According to Descartes, God is the primary cause, which is also referred to as the supreme being or first cause. The primary cause is capable of causing itself and can not be traced back to a beginning that does not include itself.

    Secondary Cause

    • A secondary cause is one created by another and is capable of causing future events in some way. Man is an example of such a cause, as all mankind can draw their origins back to another, namely their parents. In order to avoid an infinite regression of secondary causes, Descartes proposed the concept of the primary cause.

    Exclusive Primary Efficacy

    • One proposition as to the relationship between the primary and secondary causes is that of exclusive primary efficacy. This argument proposes that only the primary cause is capable of causing anything. Those things that seem to have been created by secondary causes can be traced back to an action set into motion by the primary cause. For this reason, it is argued that no secondary cause is truly capable of creating anything.

    Shared Efficacy

    • A variation on the exclusive primary efficacy argument is the idea of shared efficacy. In this argument the primary cause creates the secondary cause, which can lead to other things, though only with assistance from the primary cause. This idea of shared efficacy is one of the cornerstones of John Locke's later development of property rights in his Second Treatise on Civil Government.

    Separate Efficacy

    • The third variation is separate efficacy, which argues that the primary cause creates secondary causes and maintains the world in such a way that they cause things without assistance from the primary cause. In other words, the primary cause lays out the rules by which secondary causes are capable of causing future events. These rules that guide the events of the world are an example of the natural laws theorized by Thomas Aquinas in his "Summa Theologica."

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