Concerning a probabilistic theory of causation adequate for the causal theory of time

Philip von Bretzel

pp. 385-402

in: Wesley C. Salmon (ed), Hans Reichenbach, Berlin, Springer, 1979

Abstract

The causal theory of time is a species of the relational theory of time which asserts that the temporal order of the events of the universe is given by their causal order. As I construe it this is not a claim about the meanings of terms but a theory about the nature of time. Time is no more than the causal order of the events composing the universe. Hence it should be possible to completely describe the universe without mentioning anything temporal.