Relativistic spacetimes and definitions of determinism

Abstract

I discuss candidates for definitions of determinism in the context of general relativistic spacetimes, and argue that a definition which does not make recourse to any particular region of spacetime should be preferred over alternatives; one such notion is discussed in detail in the light of various physical examples. The emerging picture of determinism is a pluralist one: sometimes there is no unique way of making our intuitive concept of determinism precise. Instead, what is crucial for assessment of determinism of the theory are auxiliary conditions under which it counts as deterministic or indeterministic, and justification for using them in a given situation.