Cauchy Surface
For a Machian program such as Barbour's or Wheeler's, it may be pointed out that the absence of Cauchy surfaces is allowed by general relativity, and this may pose a difficulty for such a program. But in order to understand this objection, you've got to know what "Cauchy surface" is, in the first place! This is an indispensable concept, if you want to discuss determinism in any depth.
For more on this, see Earman (1992) and Barbour & Pfister (1995).
Reference
Barbour & Pfister, ed. (1995) Mach's Principle, Birkhaeuser.
Earman, J. (1992) "Determinism in the Physical Sciences" in Salmon et al, Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Prentice-Hall.
Last modified March 27, 2003. (c) Soshichi Uchii
