Covers three distinct meanings. To begin with, there is causation (the causal relationship between two things when the first is a necessary and/or sufficient condition the occurrence of the second), the causality principle (a statement of the law of causation in the form ‘The same cause always or invariably produces the same effect’), and causal determinism. Following Aristotle (384-322 BP) and his distinctions between efficient, final, formal and material causes, Francis Bacon (1561-1626) established that causality (i.e., Aristotle’s efficient causality) could be open to empirical investigation, which resulted in the separation of science from philosophy. By the beginning of the 19th century, such simple linear causality (viz., if A causes B, then there is a logical relationship to be discovered by understanding the essences of A and B) was being challenged by notions of multiple causation. In the 20th century, quantum mechanics added a probabilistic dimension to the study of causality.
See Causal determinism, Causal determinism (or causalism), Causal pathway, Circular (or non-linear) causality, Causality (as a psychological phenomenon), Determinism, Explanation, Laws of nature, Necessary and sufficient conditions, Proximate mechanisms (or causes), Quantum mechanics, Probabilistic epigenesis, Systemic causality, Ultimate mechanisms (or causes)