Re: Noun Cases

Mark J. Reed scripsit:

> JC> The distinction, when it is made (not always), is that "why?" asks
> JC> for the material cause of something,
>
> Where "material" = "immediate"?
"Material" was a slip for "efficient".  Aristotle divides causes into
four: the formal, material, efficient, and final, and gives the example
of a house:  the formal cause of a house is the blueprint; the material
cause is the lumber, nails, bricks, etc.; the efficient cause is the
builders; the final cause is the purpose for which the house is built.

> What legal jargon refers to as the "prima facie" cause?
"Prima facie" means "at first glance".  A prima facie cause is an
(efficient) cause that, unless a convincing reason is shown to the
contrary, is assumed to be the genuine cause.  Overheating is the
prima facie cause of intermittent hardware faults, but may or may
not be the genuine cause in any particular case.

AFAICT the most common use of "prima facie cause" in legalese is the
phrase "prima facie cause of action", which groups as "prima facie
(cause of action)", not "(prima facie cause) of action", and means
the minimum facts necessary to make a case, again, at first glance --
it may not turn out to be so.

--
What is the sound of Perl?  Is it not the       John Cowan
sound of a [Ww]all that people have stopped     jcowan@reutershealth.com
banging their head against?  --Larry            http://www.ccil.org/~cowan

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