Causal Order, Temporal Order, and Becoming in Special Relativity

Hanoch Ben-Yami*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

I reconstruct from Rietdijk and Putnam’s well-known papers an argument against the applicability of the concept of becoming in Special Relativity, which I think is unaffected by some of the objections found in the literature. I then consider a line of thought found in the discussion of the possible conventionality of simultaneity in Special Relativity, beginning with Reichenbach, and apply it to the debate over becoming. We see that it immediately renders Rietdijk and Putnam’s argument unsound. I end by comparing my approach to others found in the literature, primarily Stein’s.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)277-281
Number of pages5
JournalTopoi
Volume34
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2015

Keywords

  • Becoming
  • Causality
  • Putnam
  • Reichenbach
  • Rietdijk
  • Special Relativity

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Causal Order, Temporal Order, and Becoming in Special Relativity'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this