In law, the substantial certainty doctrine is the assumption of intent even if the actor did not intend the result, but knew with substantial certainty the effect would occur as a result of his action.
Examples:
(+)= yes (-)= no
(+)Firing a gun into a dense crowd of people. Natural and probable consequences.
Presence of a policy rational motivating no "KWSC" coupled with the alternative of product liability or negligence actions.
(-)Manufacturing cigarettes and the resulting lung cancer. Too general (-)Running a construction site with lots of hazardous equipment and w/ knowledge that people, as a statistical reality, will get hurt on a construction site. Too general.
References
Substantial certainty doctrine Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA