Consider what Wasserman calls the annihilation argument . According to Wasserman, that argument: a. is sound. It
Question:
Consider what Wasserman calls the annihilation argument. According to Wasserman, that argument:
a. is sound. It shows that while Wellsian backward time travel may be coherent given eternalism,
it is not coherent given presentism. For if presentism is true, then, in the classic cases of Wellsian ‘backward time travel’, the so-called time traveler does not really travel to the past; rather, he or she is merely annihilated.
b. fails to establish any asymmetry between presentism and eternalism regarding time travel. It is equally true for the eternalist that if you push the button, you will never exist again, and so are in some sense annihilated.
c. is sound. It shows that while Wellsian backward time travel may be coherent given presentism,
it is not coherent given eternalism. For if eternalism is true, then, in the classic cases of Wellsian ‘backward time travel’, the so-called time traveler does not really travel to the past; rather, he or she is merely annihilated.
d. attempts, but fails, to establish the symmetry of presentism and eternalism. So far as the argument is concerned, presentists still have the upper hand in making sense of cases of Wellsian backward time travel.
Introduction to Operations Research
ISBN: 978-1259162985
10th edition
Authors: Frederick S. Hillier, Gerald J. Lieberman