Single Idea 14172

[catalogued under 26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 7. Eliminating causation]

Full Idea

Some people would hold that two moments of time, or two points of space, imply each other's existence; yet the relation between these cannot be said to be causal.

Gist of Idea

Moments and points seem to imply other moments and points, but don't cause them

Source

Bertrand Russell (The Principles of Mathematics [1903], §449)

Book Reference

Russell,Bertrand: 'Principles of Mathematics' [Routledge 1992], p.476


A Reaction

Famously, Russell utterly rejected causation a few years after this. The example seems clearer if you say that two points or moments can imply at least one point or instant between them, without causing them.