Civil Law and Land Titles and Deeds › Torts and Quasi-delicts › Proximate Cause
2. Cause vs. Condition
Cause distinguished from Motive
| CAUSE | MOTIVE |
| Immediate or direct reason of a contract | Remote or indirect reason |
| Objective and juridical reason for the contract; it need not be stated, and an unstated cause is presumed to exist and be lawful unless the debtor proves otherwise (Civil Code, Arts. 1350 and 1354) | Psychological or purely personal reason; may be unknown to the other party |
| Remains the same regardless of a party’s motive for entering into a contract | May vary although a party enters into the same kind of contract |
| Legality or illegality of cause affects the existence or validity of the contract | A merely personal motive generally does not affect validity; if the parties’ shared unlawful purpose constitutes the contract’s cause, the contract is void (Civil Code, Arts. 1351–1352 and 1409(1)) |