Time Travel and Counterfactual Asymmetry
Citation:
Alison Fernandes, Time Travel and Counterfactual Asymmetry, Synthese, 2020, 1 - 19Download Item:

Abstract:
We standardly evaluate counterfactuals and abilities in temporally asymmetric terms—by keeping
the past fixed and holding the future open. Only future events depend counterfactually on what
happens now. Past events do not. Conversely, past events are relevant to what abilities one has
now in a way that future events are not. Lewis, Sider and others continue to evaluate
counterfactuals and abilities in temporally asymmetric terms, even in cases of backwards time
travel. I’ll argue that we need more temporally neutral methods. The past shouldn’t always be
held fixed, because backwards time travel requires backwards counterfactual dependence. Future
events should sometimes be held fixed, because they’re in the causal history of the past, and
agents have evidence of them independently of their decisions now. We need temporally neutral
methods to maintain connections between causation, counterfactuals and evidence, and if
counterfactuals are used to explain the temporal asymmetry of causation.
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/asfernan
Author: Fernandes, Alison
Publisher:
SpringerType of material:
Journal ArticleCollections:
Series/Report no:
Synthese;Synthese;2020, 1 - 19
Availability:
Full text availableKeywords:
Time travel, Causation, Counterfactuals, Evidence, Temporal asymmetry, Backwards causation, Open future, David LewisSubject (TCD):
COUNTERFACTUAL THINKING , Counterfactual reasoning , TIME , Time TravelISSN:
0039-7857Licences: