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(-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px"/><img alt="Image for this article showing a desktop that contains notes in a 3-ring binder, in a spiral notebook, and on a digital tablet." class="bh mq nw c" width="700" height="526" loading="eager"/></picture></div></div><figcaption class="nx ff ny nj nk nz oa bf b bg z du">Image by Vern R. Walker, <a class="af ob" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">CC BY 4.0</a>.</figcaption></figure><p id="0e5e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk"><em class="oy">This is the seventh installment in </em><a class="af ob" rel="noopener" href="/illumination/socratic-dialogues-on-the-big-questions-a423920c3d02"><em class="oy">a series of Socratic Dialogues</em></a><em class="oy">. Three first-year law students discuss “big questions” while taking </em><a class="af ob" rel="noopener" href="/illumination/socratic-dialogues-on-the-big-questions-a423920c3d02"><em class="oy">a course in tort law</em></a><em class="oy">. The students bring different worldviews — traditional humanities (Ethan), science and artificial intelligence (Maya), and analytic philosophy (Parker).</em></p></div></div></div><div class="ab cb oz pa pb pc" role="separator"><span class="pd by bm pe pf pg"></span><span class="pd by bm pe pf pg"></span><span class="pd by bm pe pf"></span></div><div class="gn go gp gq gr"><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><p id="08cd" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">This week of the course focused on the issue of causation that the plaintiff must prove in a negligence claim. In addition to proving <a class="af ob" rel="noopener" href="/illumination/what-is-law-8e71a4542fdd">negligent conduct by the defendant</a>, a plaintiff who alleges physical harm must causally connect that conduct to the harm. The plaintiff must prove that the defendant’s negligent conduct was a factual cause of that harm.</p><p id="b025" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">What does “cause” mean here? Traditionally, courts have said that this means “but-for” causation. That is, but for the negligent conduct, the harm would not have occurred. The defendant should be liable only if the plaintiff’s harm would not have occurred absent the defendant’s negligence.</p><p id="0816" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">But over the decades, some anomalous scenarios have arisen in cases. For example, what if two negligent acts occurred at the same time, each of which would have been a but-for cause in the absence of the other? Then neither act seems to be a but-for cause, because the other act would have brought about the harm anyway. Or, what if only one of the two simultaneous negligent acts was a but-for cause, but the plaintiff can’t reasonably prove which one? These and other scenarios seem to require additional legal rules if our notions of justice are to be satisfied. So, it’s another week in which an initial legal concept, which intuitively resolves many simple cases, must be modified or limited when more unusual cases arise.</p></div></div></div><div class="ab cb oz pa pb pc" role="separator"><span class="pd by bm pe pf pg"></span><span class="pd by bm pe pf pg"></span><span class="pd by bm pe pf"></span></div><div class="gn go gp gq gr"><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><p id="62bc" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">Parker is feeling a bit more confident about this law school business, but he suspects that his anxiety will remain high until after he has passed his first exam. These weekly meetings of the Torts study group with Ethan and Maya, however, are helpful with the anxiety. He is getting some practice in saying out loud what is going through his mind and getting feedback. Not always helpful or wanted feedback, but it’s still an important kind of reality check.</p><p id="2592" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">As they are setting up for the study group, Parker shares his satisfaction with the concept of but-for causation. “The tort concept of factual cause seems to me to refine our everyday concept of cause. If the negligent conduct had not occurred, the plaintiff’s harm would not have occurred. And I like the ‘but-for’ shorthand: but-for the negligence, there would have been no harm.”</p><p id="1044" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">Ethan nods his agreement, saying, “Yes, and it fits well with a method I’ve been developing for analyzing new cases. First, I start with identifying the plaintiff’s harm, because without some harm there is no tort. Also, that’s the information that any prospective plaintiff brings to the lawyer’s office.</p><p id="9f47" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Second, for that harm, I imagine that there are chains of but-for events going back in time. It’s a thought experiment to round up all potential causes, just so I don’t overlook any.”</p><p id="512b" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Third, each human act in any chain is a point at which some choice was made, and an alternative history might have begun. If the defendant hadn’t driven to the store, the pedestrian would not have been injured.”</p><p id="24e7" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Fourth, for each human but-for act, can the plaintiff prove that the act was done negligently? Was the defendant driving negligently on his way to the store? When I’m done, I have a list of all potential defendants for a negligence claim.”</p><p id="cf83" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">Maya is impressed by Ethan’s insight, and she realizes immediately that this is the method she’s been missing for organizing the evidence in any new case — including any case on the exam. “I like that method,” Maya says. “I had not put those elements together that way.”</p><p id="7196" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Yes, <em class="oy">very</em> helpful,” Parker adds. “But I have been puzzling over two problems. First, the but-for causal chains stretch indefinitely into the past. The cosmic Big Bang is a but-for cause of everything else that happens in the universe! So, the but-for chains do not narrow things down too much. Second, at many points in every chain, not just for the human acts, things could have developed differently. The but-for chains could have branched into other possible worlds. That’s a lot of complexity to get out of our everyday concept of causation!”</p><p id="3745" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“I’m not bothered by those problems,” answers Ethan. “First, in any actual case, the evidence is limited, and the chains that the plaintiff tries to prove are quite short. So, the but-for chains do pare down the suspects. Second, the jury’s common sense can fill in the possible chains that didn’t happen. We usually know what could have happened, but didn’t. So, your worries aren’t realistic.”</p><p id="8c91" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Maybe,” Parker admits, “for most simple causal chains. But should we just assume that in more complicated cases, the jurors can actually <em class="oy">learn</em> about past and possible events, without engaging in speculation? I find our knowledge of the past very puzzling.”</p><p id="2af3" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Now you <em class="oy">have</em> gone off the deep end, Parker,” says Ethan, sadly. “The past is not as mysterious as you are pretending. Yesterday really happened, and the day before that did also. Every person with common sense is a realist about the past. I personally experienced some past events, and I remember a lot of what I experienced. Those past events caused my present memories, as well as my feelings about them. Parker, if you can’t agree with all those statements, I worry about your sanity.”</p><p id="fb8c" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“I can only report what I experience,” Parker says tentatively, getting his irritation under control. “I remember yesterday’s Torts class, but not as vividly as I remember what you said 5 minutes ago. The torts system assumes that human memories can accurately reconstruct the past. We put an eyewitness on the stand who testifies about what she remembers. Then we ask a jury whether they believe the witness. Then the jury decides what would have happened in the absence of the defendant’s negligence. We’re just encouraging layers and layers of guesswork.”</p><p id="1869" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“But we have no choice,” Ethan declares emphatically. “If the plaintiff’s testimony about how he got hurt is false, the jury needs to find that out. If the defendant actually engaged in negligent conduct, the jury needs to find that out also. If these things didn’t really happen, then a tort judgment for the plaintiff would be unfair to the defendant. Maybe a society of mystics wouldn’t need tort law, but we do.”</p><p id="bb44" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Ethan,” says Maya, “what you consider common-sense realism is just cultural inertia. Science proves that even our <em class="oy">present</em> sense impressions can be deceptive about the past. For example, our experience of seeing a star in the night sky leads us intuitively to believe that the star exists, but science tells us that the light that I am receiving might have taken 8,000 light-years to travel from the star to my eye, and that star might no longer exist. So much for untested intuitions.”</p><p id="0698" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“But those scientists believe in real causation,” Ethan ventures. “Scientists rely on causation by past events to explain why things happen later on. Also, <em class="oy">you</em> think that tort law should be about setting incentives. So, you must believe that incentives created in the past are causing what is happening in the present.”</p><p id="ff33" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“I do think that,” agrees Maya. “Scientific experimentation does depend on a kind of causation. But science uses probabilities of occurrence, not necessarily but for conditions. The days of deterministic theories are over, even in physics.”</p><p id="1460" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“But,” Parker points out, “the scientific world depends for its validity on the experience of the everyday world. And in the everyday world, we often use all-or-nothing concepts like but-for cause.”</p><p id="216e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Also,” adds Ethan, “we certainly use those concepts when we assign responsibility to people for the things they cause. My parents used that thinking all the time when they blamed me for something I did. So, it makes sense to me that tort law would use those same concepts to state the liability rules and to instruct the jury. The law is just trying to refine and use those everyday concepts.”</p><p id="f109" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“I see your point,” says Maya. “I really do. But I think the law should aspire to more, and reach for that ‘more’ whenever possible. And I doubt that the all-or-nothing concept of but-for causation does any important work in tort law. In fact, the concept gets in our way when we use it to achieve the goals of tort law.”</p><p id="54b2" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“I’m not sure I know what you mean, Maya,” says Ethan. “Give us an example.”</p><p id="90c9" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Well,” answers Maya, “I think tort law should assign liability to a defendant only if their behavior produces a <em class="oy">risk </em>of harm. The plaintiff shouldn’t have to prove that the defendant is also a but-for cause of the specific <em class="oy">occurrence</em> of harm. Sending the jury on a speculative hunt for what would have happened had the defendant not acted has several costs.</p><p id="0416" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“First,” Maya elaborates, “there is a real possibility of error. People on that jury might have different guesses about what would’ve happened. Second, we have costly legal trials during which the jury arrives at its best guesses. Then the court blesses that jury speculation with the name of ‘factual’ cause! It seems so wrongheaded to me. If we can get along just as well without requiring a finding of ‘factual cause,’ we should do it.”</p><p id="5850" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“There may be something to what you say, Maya,” Parker offers. “I’m thinking especially of our cases involving the ‘two–fires scenario’ or the ‘two–hunters scenario.’ The first is where two defendants independently and negligently set two fires, and those fires combine into one larger fire, and that larger fire destroys the plaintiff’s property. Then <em class="oy">each </em>defendant’s negligence is deemed by the court to be a but-for cause, provided <em class="oy">either</em> of them alone would have been sufficient to burn down the property.</p><p id="1c7e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“In the second scenario,” Parker continues, “two hunters each negligently fire their shotguns toward the plaintiff at the same time, but only one pellet of shot hits the plaintiff in the eye. The plaintiff cannot reasonably be expected to prove which gun the shot came from. In such scenarios, the courts shift the burden of proof to allow each negligent defendant to try to exonerate themself. This often leads to the right outcome in practice — both negligent defendants probably end up being liable.”</p><p id="9301" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“I agree,” answers Ethan, “that the outcome is a just one in those two cases. But both scenarios still depend on a but-for conception of factual cause. In the two-fire scenario, each defendant’s negligence <em class="oy">would have been</em> a but-for-cause in the absence of the other. In the two-hunters scenario, only one <em class="oy">could have been</em> a but-for cause, but the plaintiff can’t prove which one. In both scenarios, however, mere coincidence keeps the normal rules from working. So, as a matter of justice, a negligent defendant shouldn’t get an unearned windfall, while the plaintiff victim is left to shoulder the whole cost.”</p><p id="ccf3" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Don’t you see that you’ve made my point?” Maya asks, exasperated. “Of course, the cost of the harm should be placed on the negligent defendants — they were in the best position to evaluate the risk and to reduce the costs by avoiding the accident. But the chance to exonerate themselves is unnecessary. Why not just be realistic and acknowledge that the notion of but-for cause is the red herring here?”</p><p id="323f" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Maybe, Maya,” Parker says, “the toxic tort scenario is an even better example for you. I’m thinking of cases involving chemical spills or pharmaceutical products. Juries might get scientific evidence about what types of harm <em class="oy">can</em> be caused when someone is exposed. However, the causal chains of chemical reactions in the soil after the chemical spill, or of the metabolic reactions in the human body after taking the pharmaceutical product, are too complicated to figure out. But the but-for idea requires the jury to pretend to determine what led to what in a specific case.”</p><p id="f4a2" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Exactly!” Maya insists. “We can develop science about what <em class="oy">kinds</em> of harm a chemical or a pharmaceutical <em class="oy">probably</em> causes, but it’s a very different matter to prove what <em class="oy">did</em> cause what in a particular instance. Policy should take over and set liability rules using only probabilities of harm in various scenarios.”</p><p id="72a9" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Well, some toxic tort cases do pose a problem for but-for causation,” Ethan concedes. “That’s why some courts use the phrase ‘substantial factor’ to deal with such toxic tort situations. Instead of using the concept of but-for cause, some courts tell the jury to determine whether a chemical or pharmaceutical was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff harm.”</p><p id="4a54" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“But the substantial factor idea is an even worse fiction,” Maya responds. “If a jury cannot determine what caused this particular occurrence of harm, then asking the jury to <em class="oy">compare</em> degrees of causation in the specific case is truly nonsense. The only good thing I can say about the ‘substantial factor’ language is that it does suggest that causal relations can vary in degree. That is exactly what science does with probabilities. If the ‘substantial factor’ instruction invites the jury to compare the relative probabilities among the potential causes and to determine which probabilities are high enough to warrant liability, then that’s a minor step in the right direction.”</p><p id="5bc5" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“Ethan,” Parker adds, “I’m starting to agree with Maya. If the court wants to let the jury find the chemical spiller or the pharmaceutical seller liable, the court helps cover up the jury’s guesswork with a vague phrase like ‘substantial factor.’ The jurors might think this means ‘big enough contributor,’ and then they use their sense of justice to check off the factual cause item in their verdict. It’s a language game. The system feels good about itself, and so does the jury. Just change the words, and everything sounds OK.”</p><p id="e9aa" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">“But it’s just wrong to make the defendant pay for an injury the defendant didn’t cause,” Ethan exclaims.</p><p id="d765" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">Parker ignores Ethan’s point, and he watches Maya’s face closely for a few moments. Parker thinks she doesn’t buy his language games analysis. She would prefer instructing the jury on hard-core probabilities if she thought juries could handle them. Maya appears thoughtful, but she says nothing. Instead, she steers the discussion back to reviewing their Torts notes.</p><p id="b0c0" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">Parker also watches Ethan, but he has little insight into what Ethan is thinking. He expected Ethan to object to Parker’s bringing up language games. Ethan surprised him, therefore, by taking the high road in appealing to justice.</p><p id="48f1" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">As Parker is trudging home after their session, he still has the intuition that there is something odd about our statements about the past. But how to put that feeling into words? Fortunately, by the time he gets home, he has too much reading to do, and he has no time to spend on this puzzle.</p></div></div></div><div class="ab cb oz pa pb pc" role="separator"><span class="pd by bm pe pf pg"></span><span class="pd by bm pe pf pg"></span><span class="pd by bm pe pf"></span></div><div class="gn go gp gq gr"><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><p id="cc0e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">Parker is right that the legal system presents a special opportunity to study the meanings of words like “cause,” “past,” and “real.” And Parker might be right in emphasizing the pragmatic nature of legal language.</p><p id="1e3d" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">Maya might be right that but-for-cause is a defective and unnecessary concept. If she is, then there may be ripple effects in legal areas other than torts. The study group should keep this possibility in mind.</p><p id="8c63" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">Also, Ethan’s method for analyzing new cases is indeed quite practical. The methodology helps the plaintiff to look as widely as possible for potential defendants, without overlooking any. It is a useful heuristic for analyzing new cases.</p><p id="b4ed" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk">But Ethan’s method leads to a new puzzle. In all those but-for-chains, is every negligent defendant potentially liable, all the way back up the chain? This leads to the topic of the next week in the course — the concept of “proximate cause,” or the notion of “scope of liability.” There must be a way to narrow down the huge number of but-for negligent acts, to arrive at a fair set of possible defendants.</p></div></div></div><div class="ab cb oz pa pb pc" role="separator"><span class="pd by bm pe pf pg"></span><span class="pd by bm pe pf pg"></span><span class="pd by bm pe pf"></span></div><div class="gn go gp gq gr"><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><p id="ef5f" class="pw-post-body-paragraph oc od gu oe b hs of og oh hv oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox gn bk"><em class="oy">The next week in the course (Week 8) will study the concept of “proximate cause,” or “scope of liability.” The students in </em><a class="af ob" rel="noopener" href="/illumination/socratic-dialogues-on-the-big-questions-a423920c3d02"><em class="oy">the Torts Study Group</em></a><em class="oy"> discuss the question, “Is the future real?” (That story will be published very soon, and I will add the link at that time.)</em></p></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></article></div><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><div class="ph pi ab jm"><div class="pj ab"><a class="pk ay am ao" rel="noopener follow" href="/tag/philosophy?source=post_page-----3f6213803c2f--------------------------------"><div class="pl fj cx pm ge pn po bf b bg z bk pp">Philosophy</div></a></div><div class="pj ab"><a class="pk ay am ao" rel="noopener follow" href="/tag/law?source=post_page-----3f6213803c2f--------------------------------"><div class="pl fj cx pm ge pn po bf b bg z bk pp">Law</div></a></div><div class="pj ab"><a class="pk ay am ao" rel="noopener follow" href="/tag/science?source=post_page-----3f6213803c2f--------------------------------"><div class="pl fj cx pm ge pn po bf b bg z bk pp">Science</div></a></div><div class="pj ab"><a class="pk ay am ao" rel="noopener follow" 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The students bring different worldviews — traditional humanities (Ethan), science and artificial intelligence (Maya), and analytic philosophy (Parker).","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"A","start":35,"end":65,"href":"https:\u002F\u002Fmedium.com\u002Fillumination\u002Fsocratic-dialogues-on-the-big-questions-a423920c3d02","anchorType":"LINK","userId":null,"linkMetadata":null},{"__typename":"Markup","type":"A","start":134,"end":154,"href":"https:\u002F\u002Fmedium.com\u002Fillumination\u002Fsocratic-dialogues-on-the-big-questions-a423920c3d02","anchorType":"LINK","userId":null,"linkMetadata":null},{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":0,"end":307,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_4":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_4","name":"08cd","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"This week of the course focused on the issue of causation that the plaintiff must prove in a negligence claim. In addition to proving negligent conduct by the defendant, a plaintiff who alleges physical harm must causally connect that conduct to the harm. The plaintiff must prove that the defendant’s negligent conduct was a factual cause of that harm.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"A","start":134,"end":168,"href":"https:\u002F\u002Fmedium.com\u002Fillumination\u002Fwhat-is-law-8e71a4542fdd","anchorType":"LINK","userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_5":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_5","name":"b025","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"What does “cause” mean here? Traditionally, courts have said that this means “but-for” causation. That is, but for the negligent conduct, the harm would not have occurred. The defendant should be liable only if the plaintiff’s harm would not have occurred absent the defendant’s negligence.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_6":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_6","name":"0816","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"But over the decades, some anomalous scenarios have arisen in cases. For example, what if two negligent acts occurred at the same time, each of which would have been a but-for cause in the absence of the other? Then neither act seems to be a but-for cause, because the other act would have brought about the harm anyway. Or, what if only one of the two simultaneous negligent acts was a but-for cause, but the plaintiff can’t reasonably prove which one? These and other scenarios seem to require additional legal rules if our notions of justice are to be satisfied. So, it’s another week in which an initial legal concept, which intuitively resolves many simple cases, must be modified or limited when more unusual cases arise.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_7":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_7","name":"62bc","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Parker is feeling a bit more confident about this law school business, but he suspects that his anxiety will remain high until after he has passed his first exam. These weekly meetings of the Torts study group with Ethan and Maya, however, are helpful with the anxiety. He is getting some practice in saying out loud what is going through his mind and getting feedback. Not always helpful or wanted feedback, but it’s still an important kind of reality check.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_8":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_8","name":"2592","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"As they are setting up for the study group, Parker shares his satisfaction with the concept of but-for causation. “The tort concept of factual cause seems to me to refine our everyday concept of cause. If the negligent conduct had not occurred, the plaintiff’s harm would not have occurred. And I like the ‘but-for’ shorthand: but-for the negligence, there would have been no harm.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_9":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_9","name":"1044","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Ethan nods his agreement, saying, “Yes, and it fits well with a method I’ve been developing for analyzing new cases. First, I start with identifying the plaintiff’s harm, because without some harm there is no tort. Also, that’s the information that any prospective plaintiff brings to the lawyer’s office.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_10":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_10","name":"9f47","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Second, for that harm, I imagine that there are chains of but-for events going back in time. It’s a thought experiment to round up all potential causes, just so I don’t overlook any.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_11":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_11","name":"512b","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Third, each human act in any chain is a point at which some choice was made, and an alternative history might have begun. If the defendant hadn’t driven to the store, the pedestrian would not have been injured.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_12":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_12","name":"24e7","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Fourth, for each human but-for act, can the plaintiff prove that the act was done negligently? Was the defendant driving negligently on his way to the store? When I’m done, I have a list of all potential defendants for a negligence claim.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_13":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_13","name":"cf83","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Maya is impressed by Ethan’s insight, and she realizes immediately that this is the method she’s been missing for organizing the evidence in any new case — including any case on the exam. “I like that method,” Maya says. “I had not put those elements together that way.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_14":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_14","name":"7196","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Yes, very helpful,” Parker adds. “But I have been puzzling over two problems. First, the but-for causal chains stretch indefinitely into the past. The cosmic Big Bang is a but-for cause of everything else that happens in the universe! So, the but-for chains do not narrow things down too much. Second, at many points in every chain, not just for the human acts, things could have developed differently. The but-for chains could have branched into other possible worlds. That’s a lot of complexity to get out of our everyday concept of causation!”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":6,"end":10,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_15":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_15","name":"3745","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“I’m not bothered by those problems,” answers Ethan. “First, in any actual case, the evidence is limited, and the chains that the plaintiff tries to prove are quite short. So, the but-for chains do pare down the suspects. Second, the jury’s common sense can fill in the possible chains that didn’t happen. We usually know what could have happened, but didn’t. So, your worries aren’t realistic.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_16":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_16","name":"8c91","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Maybe,” Parker admits, “for most simple causal chains. But should we just assume that in more complicated cases, the jurors can actually learn about past and possible events, without engaging in speculation? I find our knowledge of the past very puzzling.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":138,"end":143,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_17":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_17","name":"2af3","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Now you have gone off the deep end, Parker,” says Ethan, sadly. “The past is not as mysterious as you are pretending. Yesterday really happened, and the day before that did also. Every person with common sense is a realist about the past. I personally experienced some past events, and I remember a lot of what I experienced. Those past events caused my present memories, as well as my feelings about them. Parker, if you can’t agree with all those statements, I worry about your sanity.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":9,"end":13,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_18":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_18","name":"fb8c","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“I can only report what I experience,” Parker says tentatively, getting his irritation under control. “I remember yesterday’s Torts class, but not as vividly as I remember what you said 5 minutes ago. The torts system assumes that human memories can accurately reconstruct the past. We put an eyewitness on the stand who testifies about what she remembers. Then we ask a jury whether they believe the witness. Then the jury decides what would have happened in the absence of the defendant’s negligence. We’re just encouraging layers and layers of guesswork.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_19":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_19","name":"1869","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“But we have no choice,” Ethan declares emphatically. “If the plaintiff’s testimony about how he got hurt is false, the jury needs to find that out. If the defendant actually engaged in negligent conduct, the jury needs to find that out also. If these things didn’t really happen, then a tort judgment for the plaintiff would be unfair to the defendant. Maybe a society of mystics wouldn’t need tort law, but we do.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_20":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_20","name":"bb44","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Ethan,” says Maya, “what you consider common-sense realism is just cultural inertia. Science proves that even our present sense impressions can be deceptive about the past. For example, our experience of seeing a star in the night sky leads us intuitively to believe that the star exists, but science tells us that the light that I am receiving might have taken 8,000 light-years to travel from the star to my eye, and that star might no longer exist. So much for untested intuitions.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":115,"end":122,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_21":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_21","name":"0698","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“But those scientists believe in real causation,” Ethan ventures. “Scientists rely on causation by past events to explain why things happen later on. Also, you think that tort law should be about setting incentives. So, you must believe that incentives created in the past are causing what is happening in the present.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":156,"end":159,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_22":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_22","name":"ff33","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“I do think that,” agrees Maya. “Scientific experimentation does depend on a kind of causation. But science uses probabilities of occurrence, not necessarily but for conditions. The days of deterministic theories are over, even in physics.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_23":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_23","name":"1460","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“But,” Parker points out, “the scientific world depends for its validity on the experience of the everyday world. And in the everyday world, we often use all-or-nothing concepts like but-for cause.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_24":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_24","name":"216e","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Also,” adds Ethan, “we certainly use those concepts when we assign responsibility to people for the things they cause. My parents used that thinking all the time when they blamed me for something I did. So, it makes sense to me that tort law would use those same concepts to state the liability rules and to instruct the jury. The law is just trying to refine and use those everyday concepts.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_25":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_25","name":"f109","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“I see your point,” says Maya. “I really do. But I think the law should aspire to more, and reach for that ‘more’ whenever possible. And I doubt that the all-or-nothing concept of but-for causation does any important work in tort law. In fact, the concept gets in our way when we use it to achieve the goals of tort law.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_26":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_26","name":"54b2","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“I’m not sure I know what you mean, Maya,” says Ethan. “Give us an example.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_27":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_27","name":"90c9","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Well,” answers Maya, “I think tort law should assign liability to a defendant only if their behavior produces a risk of harm. The plaintiff shouldn’t have to prove that the defendant is also a but-for cause of the specific occurrence of harm. Sending the jury on a speculative hunt for what would have happened had the defendant not acted has several costs.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":113,"end":118,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null},{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":224,"end":234,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_28":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_28","name":"0416","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“First,” Maya elaborates, “there is a real possibility of error. People on that jury might have different guesses about what would’ve happened. Second, we have costly legal trials during which the jury arrives at its best guesses. Then the court blesses that jury speculation with the name of ‘factual’ cause! It seems so wrongheaded to me. If we can get along just as well without requiring a finding of ‘factual cause,’ we should do it.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_29":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_29","name":"5850","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“There may be something to what you say, Maya,” Parker offers. “I’m thinking especially of our cases involving the ‘two–fires scenario’ or the ‘two–hunters scenario.’ The first is where two defendants independently and negligently set two fires, and those fires combine into one larger fire, and that larger fire destroys the plaintiff’s property. Then each defendant’s negligence is deemed by the court to be a but-for cause, provided either of them alone would have been sufficient to burn down the property.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":353,"end":358,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null},{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":436,"end":442,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_30":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_30","name":"1c7e","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“In the second scenario,” Parker continues, “two hunters each negligently fire their shotguns toward the plaintiff at the same time, but only one pellet of shot hits the plaintiff in the eye. The plaintiff cannot reasonably be expected to prove which gun the shot came from. In such scenarios, the courts shift the burden of proof to allow each negligent defendant to try to exonerate themself. This often leads to the right outcome in practice — both negligent defendants probably end up being liable.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_31":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_31","name":"9301","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“I agree,” answers Ethan, “that the outcome is a just one in those two cases. But both scenarios still depend on a but-for conception of factual cause. In the two-fire scenario, each defendant’s negligence would have been a but-for-cause in the absence of the other. In the two-hunters scenario, only one could have been a but-for cause, but the plaintiff can’t prove which one. In both scenarios, however, mere coincidence keeps the normal rules from working. So, as a matter of justice, a negligent defendant shouldn’t get an unearned windfall, while the plaintiff victim is left to shoulder the whole cost.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":206,"end":221,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null},{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":305,"end":320,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_32":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_32","name":"ccf3","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Don’t you see that you’ve made my point?” Maya asks, exasperated. “Of course, the cost of the harm should be placed on the negligent defendants — they were in the best position to evaluate the risk and to reduce the costs by avoiding the accident. But the chance to exonerate themselves is unnecessary. Why not just be realistic and acknowledge that the notion of but-for cause is the red herring here?”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_33":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_33","name":"323f","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Maybe, Maya,” Parker says, “the toxic tort scenario is an even better example for you. I’m thinking of cases involving chemical spills or pharmaceutical products. Juries might get scientific evidence about what types of harm can be caused when someone is exposed. However, the causal chains of chemical reactions in the soil after the chemical spill, or of the metabolic reactions in the human body after taking the pharmaceutical product, are too complicated to figure out. But the but-for idea requires the jury to pretend to determine what led to what in a specific case.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":226,"end":229,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_34":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_34","name":"f4a2","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Exactly!” Maya insists. “We can develop science about what kinds of harm a chemical or a pharmaceutical probably causes, but it’s a very different matter to prove what did cause what in a particular instance. Policy should take over and set liability rules using only probabilities of harm in various scenarios.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":60,"end":65,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null},{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":105,"end":113,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null},{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":169,"end":172,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_35":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_35","name":"72a9","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Well, some toxic tort cases do pose a problem for but-for causation,” Ethan concedes. “That’s why some courts use the phrase ‘substantial factor’ to deal with such toxic tort situations. Instead of using the concept of but-for cause, some courts tell the jury to determine whether a chemical or pharmaceutical was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff harm.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_36":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_36","name":"4a54","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“But the substantial factor idea is an even worse fiction,” Maya responds. “If a jury cannot determine what caused this particular occurrence of harm, then asking the jury to compare degrees of causation in the specific case is truly nonsense. The only good thing I can say about the ‘substantial factor’ language is that it does suggest that causal relations can vary in degree. That is exactly what science does with probabilities. If the ‘substantial factor’ instruction invites the jury to compare the relative probabilities among the potential causes and to determine which probabilities are high enough to warrant liability, then that’s a minor step in the right direction.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":175,"end":182,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_37":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_37","name":"5bc5","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“Ethan,” Parker adds, “I’m starting to agree with Maya. If the court wants to let the jury find the chemical spiller or the pharmaceutical seller liable, the court helps cover up the jury’s guesswork with a vague phrase like ‘substantial factor.’ The jurors might think this means ‘big enough contributor,’ and then they use their sense of justice to check off the factual cause item in their verdict. It’s a language game. The system feels good about itself, and so does the jury. Just change the words, and everything sounds OK.”","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_38":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_38","name":"e9aa","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"“But it’s just wrong to make the defendant pay for an injury the defendant didn’t cause,” Ethan exclaims.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_39":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_39","name":"d765","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Parker ignores Ethan’s point, and he watches Maya’s face closely for a few moments. Parker thinks she doesn’t buy his language games analysis. She would prefer instructing the jury on hard-core probabilities if she thought juries could handle them. Maya appears thoughtful, but she says nothing. Instead, she steers the discussion back to reviewing their Torts notes.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_40":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_40","name":"b0c0","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Parker also watches Ethan, but he has little insight into what Ethan is thinking. He expected Ethan to object to Parker’s bringing up language games. Ethan surprised him, therefore, by taking the high road in appealing to justice.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_41":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_41","name":"48f1","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"As Parker is trudging home after their session, he still has the intuition that there is something odd about our statements about the past. But how to put that feeling into words? Fortunately, by the time he gets home, he has too much reading to do, and he has no time to spend on this puzzle.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_42":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_42","name":"cc0e","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Parker is right that the legal system presents a special opportunity to study the meanings of words like “cause,” “past,” and “real.” And Parker might be right in emphasizing the pragmatic nature of legal language.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_43":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_43","name":"1e3d","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Maya might be right that but-for-cause is a defective and unnecessary concept. If she is, then there may be ripple effects in legal areas other than torts. The study group should keep this possibility in mind.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_44":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_44","name":"8c63","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Also, Ethan’s method for analyzing new cases is indeed quite practical. The methodology helps the plaintiff to look as widely as possible for potential defendants, without overlooking any. It is a useful heuristic for analyzing new cases.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:e120e375d116_45":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"e120e375d116_45","name":"b4ed","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"But Ethan’s method leads to a new puzzle. 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