Causal Reasoning Review

As with conditional statements, causal statements can be linked together,
although causal chains rarely exceed three terms.
Causality occurs when one event is said to make another occur. The cause is the
event that makes the other occur; the effect is the event that follows from the
cause.
Most causal conclusions are flawed because there can be alternate explanations
for the stated relationship: some other cause could account for the effect; some
third event could have caused both the stated cause and effect; the situation may
in fact be reversed; the events may be related but not causally; or the entire
occurrence could be the result of chance.
Many people confuse causal reasoning with conditional reasoning. Although
they can appear similar, the two are entirely separate. Here are several key
differences:
1. The chronology of the two events can differ.
In cause and effect statements there is an implied temporal relationship:
the cause must happen first and the effect must happen at some time
after the cause. In sufficient and necessary statements there is no implied
temporal relationship: the sufficient condition can happen before, at the
same time, or after the necessary condition.
2. The connection between the events is different.
In cause and effect statements the events related in a direct way: “She
swerved to avoid hitting the dog and that caused her to hit the tree.” The
cause physically makes the effect happen. In conditional statements the
sufficient and necessary conditions are often related directly, but they do
not have to be: “Before the war can end, I must eat this ice cream cone.”
The sufficient condition does not make the necessary condition happen,
it just indicates that it must occur.
3. The language used to introduce the statements is different.
Because of item number 2, the words that introduce each type of
relationship are very different. Causal indicators are active, almost
powerful words, whereas most conditional indicators do not possess
those traits.
Causal statements can be used in the premise or conclusion of an argument. If
the causal statement is the conclusion, then the reasoning is flawed. If the causal
statement is the premise, then the argument may be flawed, but not because of
the causal statement. There are two scenarios that tend to lead to causal conclusions in Logical
Reasoning questions:
1. One event occurs before another
2. Two (or more) events occur at the same time
When an LSAT speaker concludes that occurrence caused another, that speaker
also assumes that the stated cause is the only possible cause of the effect and
that consequently the stated cause will always produce the effect.
In Weaken questions, attacking a cause and effect relationship almost always
consists of performing one of the following tasks:
A. Find an alternate cause for the stated effect
B. Show that even when the cause occurs, the effect does not occur
C. Show that although the effect occurs, the cause did not occur
D. Show that the stated relationship is in fact reversed
E. Show a statistical problem exists with the data used to make the causal
statement