LessonsLegal Cause, Effective Cause and ConditionQuiz

Two propositions about conditions must be kept separate:
1. Without the required condition, the conditioned ruling does not arise in that specified setting.
2. The condition's presence alone does not necessarily create the ruling; the underlying legal basis and other requirements must also exist.

For example, if a valid ruling has been suspended on the occurrence of an event, fulfillment of that event matters. But where no valid suspension was made in the first place, the same event does not generate that specific conditional consequence.

This separates a ruling taking effect when its condition occurs from the condition itself being its operative source.

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What a condition does—and does not—establish

Legal Cause, Effective Cause and Condition

Two propositions about conditions must be kept separate:
1. Without the required condition, the conditioned ruling does not arise in that specified setting.
2. The condition's presence alone does not necessarily create the ruling; the underlying legal basis and other requirements must also exist.

For example, if a valid ruling has been suspended on the occurrence of an event, fulfillment of that event matters. But where no valid suspension was made in the first place, the same event does not generate that specific conditional consequence.

This separates a ruling taking effect when its condition occurs from the condition itself being its operative source.