Knowledge of an effect depends upon and includes knowledge of its cause.

By Baruch Spinoza, from Ethics

Key Arguments

  • He states epistemic dependence: understanding an effect involves grasping its causal ground.

Source Quotes

IV. The knowledge of an effect depends on and involves the knowledge of a cause. V.

Key Concepts

  • The knowledge of an effect depends on and involves the knowledge of a cause.

Context

Ethics, Part I, Axioms (lines 26–32); links epistemology to causality, enabling demonstrations from causes.