rt, Home Rule and Socialism, are
all questions of causation. But, in such cases, the conception of a
cause is rarely applied in its full scientific acceptation, as the
unconditional antecedent, or 'all the conditions' (neither more nor
less) upon which the event depends. This is not because men of affairs
are bad logicians, or incapable of scientific comprehension; for very
often the reverse is conspicuously true; but because practical affairs
call for promptitude and a decisive seizing upon what is predominantly
important. How learn to play the fiddle? "Go to a good teacher." (Then,
beginning young enough, with natural aptitude and great diligence, all
may be well.) How defeat the enemy? "Be two to one at the critical
juncture." (Then, if the men are brave, disciplined, well armed and well
fed, there is a good chance of victory.) Will the price of iron improve?
"Yes: for the market is oversold": (that is, many have sold iron who
have none to deliver, and must at some time buy it back; and that will
put up the price--if the stock is not too great, if the demand does not
fall off, and if those who have bought what they cannot pay for are not
in the meanwhile obliged to sell.) These prompt and decisive judgments
(with the parenthetic considerations unexpressed) as to what is the
Cause, or predominantly important condition, of any event, are not as
good as a scientific estimate of all the conditions, when this can be
obtained; but, when time is short, the insight of trained sagacity may
be much better than an imperfect theoretical treatment of such problems.

Sec. 4. To regard the Effect of certain antecedents in a narrow selective
way, is another common mistake. In the full scientific conception of an
Effect it is the sum of the unconditional consequences of a given state
and process of things: the consequences immediately flowing from that
situation without further conditions. Always to take account of all the
consequences of any cause would no doubt be impracticable; still the
practical, as well as the scientific interest, often requires that we
should enlarge our views of them; and there is no commoner error in
private effort or in legislation than to aim at some obvious good,
whilst overlooking other consequences of our action, the evil of which
may far outweigh that good. An important consequence of eating is to
satisfy hunger, and this is the ordinary motive to eat; but it is a
poor account of the physiological conse