 The comparative sense of cp-clauses derives from the literal meaning of “ceteris paribus” as “the others being equal”. A comparative cp-law asserts that the increase (or decrease) of the value of a ‘variable’ \(X\) leads to an increase (or decrease) of the value of another variable, say \(Y\), provided that all other (possibly unknown) \(X\)-independent variables \(Z_1 ,\ldots ,Z_n\) that describe the states of the considered system (or at least those \(X\)-independent variables that are potentially interfering) remain at same values. Thereby, a variable \((Z_i)\) is called \(X\)-independent iff it is not causally (or nomologically) influenced by \(X\). So, to repeat, that a variable \(Z\) is \(X\)-independent means (by the above definition) only that it is not caused by \(X\); though it may well be a cause of \(X\) (see Schurz 2014 for a novel distinction between ceteris paribus and ceteris rectis laws).