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Abstract / Description of output
Drawing on near-contemporaneous works by Lewis Carroll and H. G. Wells, this paper uses an imaginary dialogue between Achilles and the Tortoise to explore the supertask possibilities offered by combining Zeno’s (and Carroll’s) original Eleatic race set-ups with unlimited Wellsian time travel. Besides offering new thoughts on how to address some perennial worries about time travel, e.g. by paying due attention to the distinction between counterfactual and causal dependence, this paper also offers a new form of Eleatic ‘paradox’ in which Achilles is condemned to run an unending (i.e. infinite time) race at constant finite velocity over a racetrack of finite length. This time round, the Tortoise shows Achilles just how Wellsian time machines can also be infinity machines, which allow unsuspected scope for ‘bifurcated’ supertasks and unending Eleatic races.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 651-664 |
Journal | Journal of Philosophical Research |
Volume | 41 |
Early online date | 24 Aug 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- Time travel
- Supertasks
- Zeno
- David Lewis
- Lewis Carroll
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Alasdair Richmond
- School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences - Senior Lecturer
Person: Academic: Research Active