Causal Theory of Time
Causal Theory of Time
Sklar says "the primary philosophical issue we will be concerned with is the question of the reducibility of temporal structure to causal structure, the so-called question of the causal theory of time" (243). Although this question is pursued in Sklar's chapter IV, it may be useful to have a rough outline of the causal theory of time in advance. And for this purpose, van Fraassen's chapter 6 of An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space (2nd ed., 1985) is quite good.
He reviews Reichenbach's earlier view (The Philosophy of Space and Time) and later view (The Direction of Time), Gruenbaum's versions of the theory (Philosophical Problems of Space and Time, and Modern Science and Zeno's Paradoxes), and goes on to an extension of the theory to a spacetime theory. The review is clear and readable, touching also on essential criticisms of each theory.
References
Gruenbaum, A. (1974) Philosophical Problems of Space and Time, 2nd. ed., Reidel, 1974.
-----, (1967) Modern Science and Zeno's Paradox, Wesleyan University Press, 1967.
Reichenbach, Hans (1958) The Philosophy of Space and Time, Dover, 1958.
-----, (1956) The Direction of Time, University of California Press, 1956.
van Fraassen, Bas C. (1985) An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space, 2nd ed., Columbia University Press, 1985.
Last modified March 27, 2003. (c) Soshichi Uchii