Causal Reasoning in Physics

This book argues, partly through detailed case studies, for the importance of causal reasoning in physics.

Mathias Frisch (Author)

9781316649657, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 23 March 2017

266 pages

23 x 15.3 x 1.5 cm, 0.4 kg

'Mathias Frisch's Causal Reasoning in Physics (henceforth, CRP) is an engaging, persuasive, and timely defence of the legitimacy and importance of causal reasoning in physics.' Matt Farr, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

Much has been written on the role of causal notions and causal reasoning in the so-called 'special sciences' and in common sense. But does causal reasoning also play a role in physics? Mathias Frisch argues that, contrary to what influential philosophical arguments purport to show, the answer is yes. Time-asymmetric causal structures are as integral a part of the representational toolkit of physics as a theory's dynamical equations. Frisch develops his argument par]