["The end justifies the means." Historical realism and causality in modernity]

Perceived all along, from the beginning of the modern era, causality in history cannot be abstracted from a reflection on "the reason and uses of States". Such realism engages with the heart of the arts of governance, the practices which form the basis for the adage "the end justifies the means". In order to assess the implications of this maxim on the definition of causality, this article examines the modalities of the description of historical facts, its usages and censoring (understood as a necessary means to aspired ends), and the calculation of the aleatory dimensions of politics.