[Serious] Thomism: Then & Now

[vulcanlogician]

https://voiceofacatholic.wordpress.com/2...five-ways/

"In an essentially ordered causal series, we see that the cause and effect are simultaneous."

Okay. So I read the article. Maybe I'm missing something properly basic here. (But if Bertrand Russell misunderstood Aquinas, at least I'm in good company.)

First, let us begin with the causal series in which we are most familiar with through our daily experience – a causal series that is accidentally ordered.  In this type of causal series, the cause comes before the effect in time. For example, I can swing a bat and hit a baseball. Once I hit that baseball, the effect is now independent of my causal influence.

Okay. Got it. Accidental causation is pretty easy to understand.

In an essentially ordered causal series, we see that the cause and effect are simultaneous.  This type of series can be best understood by thinking of the inside of a clock.[1]  In a clock, there is a motor, and connected to it are multiple gears which contribute to moving the clock hands.  Looking at the motor as the cause of the gears moving, if the motor stops working, the first gear and all subsequent gears will stop along with it.  In this way, the cause and the effect are simultaneous.  This is the type of causality that Aquinas employs in his proofs.

Isn't this just simultaneous "accidental" causation? I would name the two simply "simultaneous" and "sequential" causation. In which case, so what? What is the fundamental difference? I don't see the real separation between the two kinds. It seems to me, accidental causation is just as orderly (or disorderly) as essential causation in the grand scheme.

What am I missing?