Can Someone Define "Fault"

Post Reply New Topic

Fault is confusing. Technically, everything in the universe exists in a cause-and-effect relationship, therefore everything is everybody's fault and yet being everybody's fault it is also nobody's fault.

But for practical everyday matters how is "fault" determined?

Everything just looks like cause-and-effect. The way I see it if X would not have happened because you did Y, it's your fault. One stipulation, if you did not intend on X and you took reasonable care then it's not your fault.

The problem is what is "reasonable care"?

There's always something a person could've done which would've prevented it from happening.

DGuru, how do you determine everything is everyone's fault? By your standards everyone would have to do every possible action that is possible to occur and that did occur and is occurring now. This would mean everyone that existed, that exists and that will exist would be Adolph Hitler. At the same time we would all be Charles Manson. Your logic makes no sense to me.

Merriam-Webster can:




Wrong. Everything exists in a sequential cause-and-effect relationship. You are also conflating "blame" and "fault"


Non-Sequitur: It does not necessarily follow that sequential cause-and-effect should determine that you are at fault for my errors, and vice-versa. Nor does sequential cause-and-effect make everyone responsible for everyone else's pain and injuries.


By something called "Final Cause", such as when someone pulls the trigger on a handgun and ends someone else's life - it is the shooter who is at fault for the death of the other, and not the person that sold him the gun.

"Willfulness" is also significant. If the shooter chose to kill the other, then it is the shooter's fault.

"Mental Competence" is also a factor. If a person has no understanding of guns, death, and personal responsibility, then they are likely not to be held at fault, even though their action was the final cause.


Poor syllogism. Here is the correct form.

a. X happens if you do Y.
b. You do y.
:: X happens

a. X will not happen if you do Z
b. You do not do Z.
:: X happens


I have a swimming pool. The law mandates that I exercise "Reasonable Care" in preventing a drowning in my pool. I erect a 10-foot high fence around my property, making the pool reasonably inaccessible from anywhere except through the house or through a locked gate. Some neighborhood kids use bolt-cutters to gain access to my swimming pool when no one is at home. One of the kids drowns. Because I took "Reasonable Care" to prevent a drowning, I am not likely to be held at fault (in a criminal sense) for the kid's drowning. The parents may try to sue me in civil court for liability, but with a good lawyer on my side, I'm not likely to lose that case, either (most likely there would be a one-time out-of-court settlement).


In the swimming pool case above, the person solely responsible for the kid's drowning is the kid himself, since he (1) was trespassing on my property without my permission; (2) defeated all reasonable safety measures that I had put into place; and (3) knew what he was doing. I am not responsible for the wrong-doing of others, especially if I exercise "Reasonable Care" in the prevention of the wrong-doing, and if I do not knowingly participate in the wrong-doing itself.

In the case of a person committing suicide, the final cause is the willful act of the person committing suicide - it is the sole cause if there was no one else present to stop the act, or if there was no reasonable expectation that anyone present could have stopped the suicide.

Example: A man receives an anonymous letter warning him that he is about to be exposed as a pedophile, a traitor, an embezzler, and an adulterer. He kisses his wife and kids good-bye, goes out to the garage, gets into his car, turns on the engine, and leaves the garage doors closed. A few hours later, his body is found - death by carbon monoxide poisoning. Clearly a suicide.

But who is at fault? The wife and kids? No, they had no idea what was going on. The person who wrote the letter? No, he or she was merely giving a warning of impending slander and possible legal action. The dealer who sold the man the car? How about the contractor that built the garage to be air-tight? Perhaps the person that the man bought the tankful of gasoline from? The letter carrier?

No, no, no, and no. The person at fault is the man who committed suicide, and no one else.

I hope that this clear things up for you.