Content area

Abstract

There have been many objections to the possibility oftime travel. But all the truly interesting ones concern the possibility of reversecausation. What is objectionable about reverse causation? I diagnose that the trulyinteresting objections are to a further possibility: that of causal loops. I raisedoubts about whether there must be causal loops if reverse causation obtains; but devote themajority of the paper to describing, and dispelling concerns about, various kinds ofcausal loop. In short, I argue that they are neither logically nor physically impossible.The only possibly objectionable feature that all causal loops share is that coincidenceis required to explain them. Just how coincidental a loop will be varies: some arereally quite ordinary, and some are incredibly unlikely. I end by speculating thatthe tendency amongst physicists to avoid discussion of causal loops involving intentionalaction may have been unfortunate, since intentional action is an excellent way tonon-mysteriously bring about what otherwise would have been an unlikely coincidence. Hencecausal loops may be more likely in a world with beings like us, than in one without.

Details

Title
No End in Sight: Causal Loops in Philosophy, Physics and Fiction
Author
Hanley, Richard
Pages
123-152
Publication year
2004
Publication date
Jul 2004
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
ISSN
00397857
e-ISSN
15730964
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
196652216
Copyright
Kluwer Academic Publishers 2004