Nonlocal causation in Maxwell theory
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Open Access
Type
PresentationAuthor/s
Weinstein, StevenAbstract
Maxwell's equations were the inspiration for special relativity and the principle of relativistic "causality", whereby spacelike-separated events are understood to be causally independent. In this talk, I will show that one of Maxwell's equations actually implies a form of nonlocal causation - causation between what are nominally causally independent events - and show that this sort of causation, while not susceptible to an interventionist or counterfactual analysis, is crucial for many everyday attributions of causal connectednessMaxwell's equations were the inspiration for special relativity and the principle of relativistic "causality", whereby spacelike-separated events are understood to be causally independent. In this talk, I will show that one of Maxwell's equations actually implies a form of nonlocal causation - causation between what are nominally causally independent events - and show that this sort of causation, while not susceptible to an interventionist or counterfactual analysis, is crucial for many everyday attributions of causal connectedness
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Date
2006-07-21Publisher
Centre for Time, Department of Philosophy, University of Sydney.Licence
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This material is copyright. Other than for the purposes of and subject to the conditions prescribed under the Copyright Act, no part of it may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise) be altered, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior written permission from the University of Sydney Library and/or the appropriate author.Faculty/School
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Centre for TimeShare