Single Idea 21675

[catalogued under 1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 3. Analysis of Preconditions]

Full Idea

The Stoics declare that there is a difference whether a thing is of such a kind that something cannot be effected without it, or such that something must necessarily be effected by it.

Gist of Idea

Some facts are indispensable for an effect, and others actually necessitate the effect

Source

report of Stoic school (fragments/reports [c.200 BCE]) by M. Tullius Cicero - On Fate ('De fato') 16.36

Book Reference

Cicero: 'On Fate, Stoic Paradoxes, Oratory', ed/tr. Rackham,H. [Harvard Loeb 1942], p.233


A Reaction

This points out that causal preconditions can be either necessary or sufficient for their effect. Because it is a very perceptive point, I surmise that it originated with Chrysippus.

Related Idea

Idea 13309 That something is a necessary condition of something else doesn't mean it caused it [Seneca]