As the English causation cases of Hotson, and others, show, the judges still put abstract principle above social justice – it is a sad and wasteful process. Hotson tells us much that we need to know about the common law: principle is prioritised, but there is no escape from politics, indeed the invocation of principle impedes social progress and serves sectional interests. We will continue to make our way through the fog that rolls in from the shores of the future. At a minimum, it is our judicial duty to ensure that we do not add to that murkiness with intellectual smog of our own making.