Lewis on Backward Causation

Thought: A Journal of Philosophy 4 (3):141-150 (2015)
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Abstract

David Lewis famously defends a counterfactual theory of causation and a non-causal, similarity-based theory of counterfactuals. Lewis also famously defends the possibility of backward causation. I argue that this combination of views is untenable—given the possibility of backward causation, one ought to reject Lewis's theories of causation and counterfactuals.

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10.1002/tht3.167

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Author's Profile

Ryan Wasserman
Western Washington University

Citations of this work

Backward causation.Jan Faye - 2008 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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References found in this work

Causation.David Lewis - 1973 - Journal of Philosophy 70 (17):556-567.
The Paradoxes of Time Travel.David K. Lewis - 1976 - American Philosophical Quarterly 13 (2):145-152.
Causation as influence.David Lewis - 2000 - Journal of Philosophy 97 (4):182-197.

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