Mühlau, Tyrol, Austria
  •  1
    Temporal and Atemporal Asymmetries in Causation
    Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 80 (4): 1009-1040. 2024.
    This article proposes a new account of causal asymmetry and of how it relates to temporal asymmetry. The key concept on which the account is based is that of inclusion, i.e. of an object being “in” another. Thus, part I develops the notion of what is “possible with respect to” a given object, and what is not, based on what is included in it. This leads to a counterfactual dependence asymmetry which is independent of the direction of time. Part II provides a crash course in local time, describing…Read more
  •  29
    Implication as Inclusion and the Causal Asymmetry
    Metaphysica 25 (1): 41-58. 2024.
    How does causation in the physical world relate to implication in logic? This article presents implication as fundamentally a relation of inclusion between propositions. Given this, it is argued that an event cannot “causally imply” another, also given the laws of nature. Then, by applying the notion of inclusion to physical objects, a relation “within the possibilities of” is developed, which generates a partial order on sets of entities and is independent of time. Based on this, it is shown th…Read more
  •  97
    This article proposes a “third way” in the philosophy of time beyond A-theory and the block universe, in which time is understood as a purely local phenomenon. It does so by starting with simple metaphysical assumptions about substances and their properties. Based on these assumptions, the notions of “before”, of change, and of time as local quantification of change can be derived non-circularly, i.e. without invoking temporal concepts. I then proceed to prove the irreversibility of local time b…Read more
  •  36
    Miracles and Violations of Laws of Nature
    European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 9 (1): 109--123. 2017.
    The aim of this article is to spell out the relationship between miracles and violations of laws of nature. I argue that the former do not necessarily entail the latter, even in the case of the type of miraculous event which cannot be brought about by natural operations alone. The idea that they do is based on a deterministic assumption which is too often overlooked. The article also explores the reverse implication, i.e. the question whether violations of laws of nature entail miracles. It turn…Read more