  Motivated by the recent attention on superluminal phenomena, we investigate
the compatibility between faster-than-c propagation and the fundamental
principles of relativity and causality. We first argue that special relativity
can easily accommodate -- indeed, does not exclude -- faster-than-c signalling
at the kinematical level. As far as causality is concerned, it is impossible to
make statements of general validity, without specifying at least some features
of the tachyonic propagation. We thus focus on the Scharnhorst effect
(faster-than-c photon propagation in the Casimir vacuum), which is perhaps the
most plausible candidate for a physically sound realization of these phenomena.
We demonstrate that in this case the faster-than-c aspects are ``benign'' and
constrained in such a manner as to not automatically lead to causality
violations.
