The time-asymmetry of causation

In Helen Beebee, Peter Menzies & Christopher Hitchcock (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Causation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 414-443 (2008)
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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.

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Author Profiles

Huw Price
University of Bonn
Brad Weslake
New York University, Shanghai

Citations of this work

Debunking arguments.Daniel Z. Korman - 2019 - Philosophy Compass 14 (12):e12638.
Counterfactual theories of causation.Peter Menzies - 2008 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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References found in this work

The direction of time.Hans Reichenbach - 1956 - Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. Edited by Maria Reichenbach.
Causality.Judea Pearl - 2000 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Time and chance.David Z. Albert - 2000 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
The Direction of Time.Hans Reichenbach - 1956 - Philosophy 34 (128):65-66.

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