Causation and the Time-Asymmetry of Knowledge

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21293549
AutoresTroy Blanchard (0000-0001-5002-7517, University of Cologne, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen102
Número4
Páginas959-977
Fecha de publicación2024-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAustralasian Journal of Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0004-8402 • E-ISSN: 1470-6828
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00048402.2024.2328629
OpenAlexW4393129570
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas16

This paper argues that the knowledge asymmetry (the fact that we know more about the past than the future) can be explained as a consequence of the causal Markov condition. The causal Markov condition implies that causes of a common effect are generally statistically independent, whereas effects of a common cause are generally correlated. I show that together with certain facts about the physics of our world, the statistical independence of causes severely limits our ability to predict the future, whereas correlations between joint effects make it so that no such limitation holds in the reverse temporal direction. In so far as the fact that our world conforms to the causal Markov condition can itself be explained in terms of the initial conditions of the universe, my view is compatible with Albert’s well-known account of the origins of temporal asymmetries, but also provides a more illuminating way to derive the knowledge asymmetry from those initial conditions

Asymmetry · Causation · Epistemology · Physics · Quantum mechanics · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Philosophy and Theoretical Science