The Time-Asymmetry of Causation
Price, Huw and Weslake, Brad (2008) The Time-Asymmetry of Causation.
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Abstract
One of the most striking features of causation is that causes typically precede their effects – the causal arrow is strongly aligned with the temporal arrow. Why should this be so? We offer an opinionated guide to this problem, and to the solutions currently on offer. We conclude that the most promising strategy is to begin with the de facto asymmetry of human deliberation, characterised in epistemic terms, and to build out from there. More than any rival, this subjectivist approach promises to demystify the asymmetry, temporal orientation, and deliberative relevance of causal judgements.
| Keywords: | Causation, causality, time-asymmetry, causal asymmetry, arrow of time |
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| Subjects: | General Issues: Decision Theory General Issues: Causation Specific Sciences: Physics: Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics General Issues: Realism/Anti-realism |
| ID Code: | 4475 |
| Deposited By: | Price, Huw |
| Deposited On: | 01 March 2009 |
| Additional Information: | Forthcoming in Helen Beebee, Christopher Hitchcock and Peter Menzies (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Causation (OUP). |