 Of course, this generic formulation by itself tells us very little, but that too is by design. On the overarching approach favored by Suárez, causation is initially very broadly characterized: a cause, taken most generically, is responsible for the existence or features of some being beyond itself; and an exercise of causality is precisely the activity by which a cause imparts existence to another, by creating it, or altering its features once it exists. As he moves through each of the four ways one thing might be responsible for the existence or features of another, Suárez brings content and specificity to his first generic notion, by explicating the various ways each of four causes manages to impart being to some being beyond itself.