British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 57 (3):459-479 (2006)
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Abstract |
David Malament tried to show that the causal theory of time leads to a unique determination of simultaneity relative to an inertial observer, namely standard simultaneity. I show that the causal relation Malament uses in his proofs, causal connectibility, should be replaced by a different causal relation, the one used by Reichenbach in his formulation of the theory. I also explain why Malament's reliance on the assumption that the observer has an eternal inertial history modifies our conception of simultaneity, and I therefore eliminate it. Having made these changes, Malament's uniqueness result no longer follows, although the conventionality of simultaneity is not reinstated. I contrast my approach with previous criticisms of Malament. Introduction Causality and Temporal Order Malament's Argument Causality versus Causal Connectibility Simultaneity and History Conclusion.
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Keywords | Special Relativity Causal Theory of Time Reichenbach Malament |
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DOI | 10.1093/bjps/axl019 |
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References found in this work BETA
Time’s Arrow and Archimedes’ Point.Huw Price - 1996 - Philosophical and Phenomenological Research 59 (4):1093-1096.
Causal Theories of Time and the Conventionality of Simultaneity.David Malament - 1977 - Noûs 11 (3):293-300.
Time's Arrow and Archimedes' Point: New Directions for the Physics of Time.Huw Price - 1998 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 49 (1):135-159.
Analysis and Metaphysics.G. E. M. Anscombe & P. F. Strawson - 1994 - Philosophical Quarterly 44 (177):528.
View all 16 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Absolute Distant Simultaneity in Special Relativity.Hanoch Ben-Yami - 2019 - Foundations of Physics 49 (12):1355-1364.
The Impossibility of Backwards Causation.Hanoch Ben-Yami - 2007 - Philosophical Quarterly 57 (228):439–455.
View all 8 citations / Add more citations
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