Time Travel, Coincidences and Counterfactuals

Author: Sider T.

Source: Philosophical Studies, Volume 110, Number 2, August 2002 , pp. 115-138(23)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

In no possible world does a time traveler succeed in killing her earlier self before she ever enters a time machine. So if many, many time travelers went back in time trying to kill their unprotected former selves, the time travelers would fail in many strange, ``coincidental'' ways, slipping on banana peels, killing the wrong victim, and so on. Such cases produce doubts about time travel. How could ``coincidences'' be guaranteed to happen? And wouldn't the certainty of coincidental failure imply that time travelers are not free to kill their earlier selves? But if so, what would inhibit their freedom? Despite initial appearances, these and other doubts may be answered: the possibility of time travel survives yet another challenge.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Rutgers University, NJ, USA E-mail: trsider@syr.edu

Publication date: 2002-08-01