The end of mystery

Sam Baron; Mark Colyvan

The end of mystery

Sam Baron, Mark Colyvan

School of Humanities

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

59 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Tim travels back in time and tries to kill his grandfather before his father was born. Tim fails. But why? Lewis's response was to cite "coincidences": Tim is the unlucky subject of gun jammings, banana peels, sudden changes of heart, and so on. A number of challenges have been raised against Lewis's response. The latest of these focuses on explanation. This paper diagnoses the source of this new disgruntlement and offers an alternative explanation for Tim's failure, one that Lewis would not have liked. The explanation is an obvious one but controversial, so it is defended against all the objections that can be mustered.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	247-264
Number of pages	18
Journal	American Philosophical Quarterly
Volume	56
Issue number	3
Publication status	Published - Jul 2019

Access to Document

Baron, S., 2019 The end of mysteryAccepted author manuscript, 192 KBLicence: Unspecified

https://apq.press.uillinois.edu/56/3/baron.html

A World Without Time: Timelessness in Physics and Metaphysics
Baron, S. (Investigator 01)
ARC Australian Research Council
1/01/18 → 3/06/21
Project: Research

Cite this

@article{3ad78c605df04cf39085ebb978b5c385,

title = "The end of mystery",

abstract = "Tim travels back in time and tries to kill his grandfather before his father was born. Tim fails. But why? Lewis's response was to cite {"}coincidences{"}: Tim is the unlucky subject of gun jammings, banana peels, sudden changes of heart, and so on. A number of challenges have been raised against Lewis's response. The latest of these focuses on explanation. This paper diagnoses the source of this new disgruntlement and offers an alternative explanation for Tim's failure, one that Lewis would not have liked. The explanation is an obvious one but controversial, so it is defended against all the objections that can be mustered.",

keywords = "MATHEMATICAL EXPLANATIONS, TIME-TRAVEL, PARADOXES, ENOUGH",

author = "Sam Baron and Mark Colyvan",

year = "2019",

month = jul,

language = "English",

volume = "56",

pages = "247--264",

journal = "American Philosophical Quarterly",

issn = "0003-0481",

publisher = "University of Illinois Press",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The end of mystery

AU - Baron, Sam

AU - Colyvan, Mark

PY - 2019/7

Y1 - 2019/7

N2 - Tim travels back in time and tries to kill his grandfather before his father was born. Tim fails. But why? Lewis's response was to cite "coincidences": Tim is the unlucky subject of gun jammings, banana peels, sudden changes of heart, and so on. A number of challenges have been raised against Lewis's response. The latest of these focuses on explanation. This paper diagnoses the source of this new disgruntlement and offers an alternative explanation for Tim's failure, one that Lewis would not have liked. The explanation is an obvious one but controversial, so it is defended against all the objections that can be mustered.

AB - Tim travels back in time and tries to kill his grandfather before his father was born. Tim fails. But why? Lewis's response was to cite "coincidences": Tim is the unlucky subject of gun jammings, banana peels, sudden changes of heart, and so on. A number of challenges have been raised against Lewis's response. The latest of these focuses on explanation. This paper diagnoses the source of this new disgruntlement and offers an alternative explanation for Tim's failure, one that Lewis would not have liked. The explanation is an obvious one but controversial, so it is defended against all the objections that can be mustered.

KW - MATHEMATICAL EXPLANATIONS

KW - TIME-TRAVEL

KW - PARADOXES

KW - ENOUGH

M3 - Article

SN - 0003-0481

VL - 56

SP - 247

EP - 264

JO - American Philosophical Quarterly

JF - American Philosophical Quarterly

IS - 3

ER -

The end of mystery

Abstract

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

A World Without Time: Timelessness in Physics and Metaphysics

Cite this