A proximate cause is an event which is closest to, or immediately responsible for causing, some observed result. This exists in contrast to a higher-level ultimate cause (or distal cause) which is usually thought of as the "real" reason something occurred. Example: Why did the ship sink? Proximate cause: Because it was holed beneath the waterline, water entered the hull and the ship became denser than the water which supported it, so it could not stay afloat. Ultimate cause: Because the ship hit a rock which tore open the hole in the ship's hull. In most situations, an ultimate cause may itself be a proximate cause in comparison to a further ultimate cause. Hence we can continue the above example as follows: Example: Why did the ship hit the rock? Proximate cause: Because the ship failed to change course to avoid it. Ultimate cause: Because the ship was under autopilot and the autopilot's data was inaccurate. (even stronger): Because the shipwrights made mistakes in the ship's construction. (stronger yet): Because the scheduling of labor at the shipyard allows for very little rest. (in absurdum): Because the shipyard's owners have very small profit margins in an ever-shrinking market. In biology Ultimate causation explains traits in terms of evolutionary forces acting on them. Example: female animals often display preferences among male display traits, such as song. An ultimate explanation based on sexual selection states that females who display preferences have more vigorous or more attractive male offspring. Proximate causation explains biological function in terms of immediate physiological or environmental factors. Example: a female animal chooses to mate with a particular male during a mate choice trial. A possible proximate explanation states that one male produced a more intense signal, leading to elevated hormone levels in the female producing copulatory behaviour. Although the behavior in these two examples is the same, the explanations are based on different sets of factors incorporating evolutionary versus physiological factors. These can be further divided, for example proximate causes may be given in terms of local muscle movements or in terms of developmental biology (see Tinbergen's four questions). In philosophy In analytic philosophy, notions of cause adequacy are employed in the causal model. In order to explain the genuine cause of an effect, one would have to satisfy adequacy conditions, which include, among others, the ability to distinguish between: Genuine causal relationships and accidents. Causes and effects. Causes