Abstract
According to a widespread view, which can be traced back to Russell’s famous attack on the notion of cause, causal notions have no legitimate role to play in mature physical theorizing. This view has proponents even among those who believe that causal notions have an important place in our folk conception of the world. In this paper I critically examine Bas van Fraassen’s articulation of this view in a debate with Nancy Cartwright. I argue that there is an asymmetry of state preparation characterizing our experimental interactions with physical systems that can provide a justification for asymmetric causal assumptions even within the context of a physics with time-reversal invariant dynamical equations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Cartwright N (1993) Defence of ‘this worldly’ causality: Comments on van Fraassen’s laws and symmetry. Philos Phenomenol Res 53(2):423–429
Frisch M (2000) ‘(Dis-)solving the puzzle of the arrow of radiation. Br J Philos Sci 51:381–410
Frisch M (2005) Inconsistency, asymmetry and non-locality: a philosophical investigation of classical electrodynamics. Oxford University Press, New York
Frisch M (2006) A tale of two arrows. Stud Hist Philos Sci Part B Stud Hist Philos Modern Phys 37(3):542–558
Frisch M (2008) Philosophical issues in electromagnetism. Philos Comp 4/1 (2009): 255–270, 10.1111/j.1747-9991.2008.00192.x
Frisch M (2009a) ‘The most sacred tenet?’ Causal reasoning in physics. Br J Philos Sci 60:459–474
Frisch M (2009b) Causality and dispersion: a reply to John Norton. Br J Philos Sci 60:487–495
Griffiths D (1989) Introduction to electrodynamics, 2nd edn. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Healey R (1983) Temporal and causal asymmetry. In: Swinburne R (ed) Space, time, and causality. Reidel, Dordrecht, pp 79–104
Hitchcock C (2007) What Russell got right. In: Price H, Corry R (eds) Causality, physics, and the constitution of reality: Russell’s republic revisited. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Price H (2007) Causal perspectivalism. In: Price H, Corry R (eds) (2007)
Price H, Corry R (eds) (2007) Causality, physics, and the constitution of reality: Russell’s republic revisited. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Rideout DP, Sorkin RD (2000) A classical sequential growth dynamic for causal sets. Phys Rev D 61:16
Russell B (1918) On the notion of cause. Mysticism and logic and other essays. Longmans, Green, New York
Suppes P (1970) A probabilistic theory of causality. North-Holland, Amsterdam
van Fraassen B (1989). Laws and symmetry. Oxford University Press, Oxford
van Fraassen B (1993) Armstrong, Cartwright, and Earman on laws and symmetry. Philos Phenomenol Res 53(2):431–444
Woodward J (2003) Making things happen: A theory of causal explanation. Oxford University Press. Oxford
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Frisch, M. (2010). Causal Models and the Asymmetry of State Preparation. In: Suárez, M., Dorato, M., Rédei, M. (eds) EPSA Philosophical Issues in the Sciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3252-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3252-2_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-3251-5
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-3252-2
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)