David Lewis The Paradoxes Of Time Travel

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Time traveling has been a discussion brought upon by many philosophers. Many of them have questioned whether or not time travel is possible, and what it would do to our time consistency. They have also argued whether time is an idea we ourselves have constructed, and how important it is to understand time in regards to time traveling. In order to proof that time traveling is possible (or impossible), philosophers came up with the grandfather paradox. Philosophers like David Lewis, then came up with a solution to the paradox and thus proved the never ending cycle of theories—and contradicting theories. David Lewis brings up valid arguments in “The Paradoxes of Time Travel” and has helped many people understand the concept of time traveling. …show more content…

The grandfather paradox was brought upon to question time traveling in its entirety. As in provide a contradiction that made philosophers believe it was impossible to travel through time. First of all, in order to understand the grandfather paradox, it is viable to understand the definition of a paradox. According to philosophers, a paradox is an argument that has apparently acceptable premises, employs apparently acceptable reasoning, and has an apparent acceptable conclusion. In this case, we are referring to the acceptable conclusion of being able to travel through time. The time traveling that is often associated with philosopher’s theories, isn't necessarily the time traveling seen in movies. In movies, an adult usually goes back in time to talk to the younger version of themselves and somehow advices them of the future outcomes, but in this case it isn’t what philosophers are referring to. Philosophers believe that in order for a person to travel through time it isn't to see a younger or older version of themselves, because it is impossible to do so. Which is because existing in two time dimensions is merely impractical. That would mean that a person would exist in the current time frame and in the time that they travel to (which would be like 2 of the same persons). Alternatively, the grandfather paradox is the concept that states that if a person say, Tim, travels back in time to kill his grandfather then it would create a contradiction of Tim’s own existence. The reason for the contradiction is that Tim won’t be able to kill his grandfather because, if Tim would kill his grandfather, then his grandfather wouldn't have had his father, which then leads to the non-existence of Tim, who then wouldn't be able to kill the grandfather in the first place. If Tim were to travel back in time and kill his grandfather, it would be like a missing puzzle piece from the overall existence of

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