Causal theories of spacetime

Journal article

Baron, Samuel and Le Bihan, Baptiste. (2023). Causal theories of spacetime. Nous. pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1111/nous.12449
AuthorsBaron, Samuel and Le Bihan, Baptiste
Abstract

We develop a new version of the causal theory of spacetime. Whereas traditional versions of the theory seek to identify spatiotemporal relations with causal relations, the version we develop takes causal relations to be the grounds for spatiotemporal relations. Causation is thus distinct from, and more basic than, spacetime. We argue that this non-identity theory, suitably developed, avoids the challenges facing the traditional identity theory.

Keywordscausal; causation; spacetime; emergence; set theory
Year01 Jan 2023
JournalNous
Journal citationpp. 1-23
PublisherWiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc. (US)
ISSN1468-0068
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/nous.12449
Web address (URL)https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nous.12449
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range1-23
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Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online19 Feb 2023
Publication process dates
Deposited05 Jan 2024
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© 2023 The Authors. Noûs published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Open access publishing facilitated by Australian Catholic University, as part of the Wiley - Australian Catholic University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.

Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
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