Backward Causation: Harder Than It Looks

Philosophy of Science 90 (1):77-91 (2023)
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Abstract

According to David Albert, there are certain situations where we can cause events that lie in our past. In response to a well-known objection that we never observe backward causation, he argues that there are good reasons why we can’t tell when it obtains. However, I identify another difficulty with Albert’s view: at face value, it has the unattractive consequence that backward causation is not just possible, but rife. In this article, I show how this implication can be blocked. I then use my analysis to defend Albert’s account from a second well-known objection, namely, that it allows us to control the past.

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Citations of this work

How Manipulation Arguments Mischaracterize Determinism.Paul Torek - 2022 - Philosophical Papers 51 (3):457-475.

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References found in this work

Causation.David Lewis - 1973 - Journal of Philosophy 70 (17):556-567.
Time and chance.David Z. Albert - 2000 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Counterfactuals.David Lewis - 1973 - Philosophy of Science 42 (3):341-344.
Causation: A User’s Guide.L. A. Paul & Ned Hall - 2013 - Oxford: Oxford University Press UK. Edited by Edward J. Hall.

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