Efficient cause
One-liner: The “push / impact” picture of causation — forceful, energetic, typically external contact that produces change.
In Juarrero’s usage
Modern science and much analytic philosophy treated efficient cause as the only real cause (cue stick → ball). That monopoly breaks intentional action, top-down organization, and persistent guidance. Juarrero does not deny efficient causes exist; she denies they are the whole story.
Not to confuse with
- “Efficient” as in “productive workplace”
- Final/formal/material causes in Aristotle’s full fourfold scheme (she restores a richer causal menu via constraints)
Everyday example
A baseball bat hitting a ball is a clean efficient-cause cartoon. Wanting to hit a home run is not the same kind of cause.
Related
Best local sources
- REPORT §2.1 · DiA Part I · claim C001