The use of words “… everything happens for a reason …” could be used to explain the nature of a past or perceived future outcome of an event or events and is dependant on the context in which the words are being applied.
The definition of “reason” may be defined as the origin of an event or condition that ought to provide a justification or a clarification (Cambridge, [Sa]: s.v. “reason”).
Types of causation, given the definition above, could be a type of causation that deals with the physical first principles of things or could infer inter alia to the notion of intervention.
Physical first principles types of causation would be examples of ‘The rain caused the flood’ and ‘Erratic driving causes accidents’ are causal claims however even in this context there are arguments that the claims mentioned here are not about the same kind of causal claim since in the first example it mentions a particular rain and flood and not rains and floods in general and relates to tokens. The second example relates not to any particular instance of erratic driving but erratic driving in general and relates to types (Gallow, 2022).
Foregoing, the notion of intervention was alluded to, and in this context, the word reason could be used to explain an event or events based on the premise that some form of divine intervention was present for the outcome of an event. According to the definition of “intervention” this is the act of becoming purposefully involved in a situation to improve it or to prevent it from getting worse (Cambridge, [Sa]: s.v. “intervention”). The application of the definition could take the rationale that a deity could choose to interfere with causation.
The rationale of both types of causations described in the preceding paragraphs could be put to the test for argument, in the example “Harry had a car accident when another car skipped the traffic light and collided with his, killing the driver of the other car and paralysing Harry from the waist down.”
An analysis would result that the cause of the event outcome described could be attributed to a particular accident involving at least the two drivers at a traffic light, the whereabouts unknown and thus is general. The reason the driver skipped the robot is general and unknown and where was Harry going to so that he became involved in the accident?
A further examination of possible types of causation could be that the driver may have fallen asleep, may have been drunk or had no regard for the rules of the road. Harry was on his way somewhere which could have been for a myriad of reasons which had caused him to be at the intersection at that particular time.
If an analysis is undertaken regarding the notion of divine intervention and the premise of ‘……….. everything happens for a reason…..’ then we can but conclude that there was an intervention present by a deity that caused the outcome of the event, in this instance, catastrophic, however, conversely the analogy could be made that because Harry had been confined to a wheelchair, he decided to change his life purpose by becoming a motivational speaker and in so doing influenced the lives of hundreds of people. Would this make the intervention good?
In conclusion, the statement ‘……….. everything happens for a reason…..’ appears rather vague because it could imply that something good or bad or even both could have resulted in the outcome of the intervention. Furthermore, if the outcome is described as good, who do we give credit to and if the outcome is bad then where does the blame lie? We could obviate blame and find some comfort in the phrase (Beltman, 2022). The term ‘spiritual bypassing’ could be applied in both cases whereby individuals neglect to accept responsibility for their actions and apportion the outcome to a cause that cannot be explained nor found by human beings onto someone else: in this instance a deity. Thus the term ‘spiritual bypassing’ could also be used as a type of defence mechanism to negate responsibility for the outcome (Cherry, 2023).
Finally, as human beings let us take credit for what we have achieved and if we have erred then acknowledge this as our failing and use our resilience as human beings to make good and heal.
Bibliography:
Beltman, B.D. 2022. Does Everything Happen for a Reason? Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/za/blog/connecting-coincidence/202202/does-everything-happen-reason (Accessed 12 July 2022).
Cambridge [Sa]: s.v. “intervention”. Cambridge Dictionary.
Cambridge [Sa]: s.v. “reason”. Cambridge Dictionary.
Cherry, K. 2023. Spiritual Bypassing as a Defense Mechanism. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-spiritual-bypassing-5081640 (Accessed 15 July 2023).
Gallow, J.D. 2022. The Metaphysics of Causation. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/causation-metaphysics/#MetaMode (Accessed 10 July 2022).
Great blog.
We as humans always need to have an explanation, so for many the phrase, …everything happens for a reason…., doesn’t sit well. We need a solid explanation. I think that is why so many of us feel the need to blame and point fingers. How do we just accept something without a solid explanation. Another phrase used is, “life happens”. Good or bad, it happens, the more we argue to get answers and the less we accept that things can just happen without explanation the more confused we get and the harder it becomes to keep an open mind. Does intervention come from a Divine or simply because the earth turns, and the stars align? What will happen, will happen and when we understand that and embrace it, life and the people around is becomes easier to accept and understand.
Everything is very open with a very clear description of the issues. It was really informative. Your site is very useful. Thank you for sharing!
Quite intriguing! further to your argument allow me to expand: It is more beneficial for human beings to have a positive outlook on any event that occurs because it seems to almost always lay a foundation for hope which on most occasions may result in a positive redirection.
With regard to blame and credit, these help us to assess and make better judgment of what has happened putting us in a better position to either prevent it from happening again (in a case of a negative event) or maximise the window of opportunity (in a case of a positive event).
“Everything Happens for A Reason” That’s the basis of science, the study of how and why… However, as rightly mentioned context plays a huge role.
Very insightful Mr Frank. Thank you for sharing!!