This change has been caused by what I may term metaphysical experience

[Xinfu]

-This change has been caused by what I may term metaphysical experience.

The present perfect should be used to refer to things bearing on the present, but the above sentence clear tells us the writer focuses on the cause, showed by the by-agent in English grammar, so why doesn't the writer use WAS CAUSED but HAS BEEN CAUSED?

By the same token, native speakers, when referring to the writer of a book, say IT WAS WRITTEN BY, never HAS BEEN WRITTEN BY. Does this piece of evidence support my idea that HAS BEEN CAUSED in the sentence is ungrammatical?

[Rusty]

I see nothing wrong with using 'was caused' or 'has been caused'. They don't mean the same thing, but would both be considered grammatical.

Native speakers of American English DO say 'it has been written by'. It doesn't mean the same thing as 'it was written by', but both are grammatically correct.

[Xinfu]

Originally Posted by Rusty

I see nothing wrong with using 'was caused' or 'has been caused'. They don't mean the same thing, but would both be considered grammatical.

Native speakers of American English DO say 'it has been written by'. It doesn't mean the same thing as 'it was written by', but both are grammatically correct.

Thank you, Rusty.

Sorry for not having made clear my point. I believed native speakers do say 'it has been written by' generally or when without context, but when native speakers want to state the name of the writer, will they say?:

eg This book has been written by Mr Hope.

(I just think when the book is already there, there's no point in linking the past to the present with the present perfect.)

eg Leaflets have been delivered to every household.

So the present result is, those households have leaflets. We've done our job. We now don't have to deliver them.

But if a native speaker wants to tell who did the delivering, isn't it the only choice to say?:

-Leaflets was delivered to every household by Mr SH.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Xinfu

..., but when native speakers want to state the name of the writer, will they say?:

eg This book has been written by Mr Hope.

(I just think when the book is already there, there's no point in linking the past to the present with the present perfect.)

Yes, a native speaker can say this. And they can say "This book was written by Mr. Hope." This would be more commonly said in America. The way you wrote it is the way it would be said in British English. They tend to use the present perfect much more than an American would.

Originally Posted by Xinfu

eg Leaflets have been delivered to every household.

So the present result is, those households have leaflets. We've done our job. We now don't have to deliver them.

But if a native speaker wants to tell who did the delivering, isn't it the only choice to say?:

-Leaflets were delivered to every household by Mr. SH.

No, we have other choices. We can use a pronoun to replace the patient (and there's no reason to repeat 'to every household'):
They were delivered by Mr. Shaw.

We could also use the active voice instead of the passive voice:
Mr. Shaw delivered the leaflets (to every household).
Mr. Shaw delivered them.