Single Idea 10389

[catalogued under 26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 5. Direction of causation]

Full Idea

Reasons for causal order being temporal order are that otherwise the effect might occur but the cause then get prevented, ..and that they must be the same, because the temporal order can only be analysed in terms of the causal order.

Gist of Idea

Causal order must be temporal, or else causes could be blocked, and time couldn't be explained

Source

Jonathan Schaffer (The Metaphysics of Causation [2007], 2.2)

Book Reference

'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.24


A Reaction

If one took both time and causation as primitive, then the second argument would be void. The first argument, though, sounds pretty overwhelming to me.