Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract It is not uncommon in time travel stories to find that the mechanism by which the time travel is achieved is not invented. A time traveller could journey to his/her own past and give the designs of the time travel machine to his/her earlier self as s/he was given the designs as a younger person. These designs never get thought up by anyone. Such a situation would conflict with the usual conception of the acquisition of knowledge. This situation is called the Temporal Epistemic Anomaly and would arise if knowledge is gained at a time prior to the information in question being transmitted but is not discovered or invented at any time. This article examines the implications of information propagating around a causal chain that is closed in time (which is required to create the Anomaly) and whether this information need have a specific origin point.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract In “The Backward Clock, Truth-Tracking, and Safety” (2015), Neil Sinhababu and I gave Backward Clock, a counterexample to Robert Nozick’s (1981) truth-tracking analysis of knowledge. In “Knowledge as Fact-Tracking True Belief” (2017), Fred Adams, John Barker and Murray Clarke propose that a true belief constitutes knowledge if and only if it is based on reasons that are sensitive to the fact that makes it true, that is, reasons that wouldn’t obtain if the belief weren’t true. They argue that their analysis evades Backward Clock. Here I show that it doesn’t. Backward Clock likewise shows their analysis to be too weak. The broader lesson seems to be that Backward Clock tells us the time is up for purely modal analyses of knowledge.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract In order to evaluate the validity and implications of Donald Davidson’s arguments against the need for conventions in order for linguistic communication (or, more generally, against the need to postulate language as an entity in order to account for communication), the theoretical considerations behind his conclusions are traced through several of his essays. Once Davidson’s ideas on communication, radical interpretation, and the lack of strict nomological connections between physical and mental events have been pointed out as necessary for his argument, it will be seen that these imply the need for something very close to linguistic conventions. The article closes by considering a few possible counterarguments this last conclusion.

Resumo em Espanhol:

Resumen Tradicionalmente, desde la filosofía de la física el problema de la flecha del tiempo ha sido abordado en términos de las propiedades que exhiben las leyes físicas fundamentales ante determinadas operaciones, en particular, ante la operación de inversión temporal: si las leyes permanecen invariantes ante inversión temporal, entonces no es posible distinguir un sentido temporal privilegiado desde un punto de vista físico; por el contrario, si una determinada ley no permanece invariante ante inversión temporal, mediante esa ley es posible dar un argumento físico para sostener la existencia de una flecha del tiempo. Sin embargo, esta estrategia ha conducido a numerosos problemas y ha instalado un clima escéptico en el ámbito de la filosofía de la física respecto del potencial de las ciencias físicas para recoger la idea intuitiva de un tiempo asimétrico. En el presente artículo se busca mostrar que la relatividad general constituye un fructífero y prometedor campo de discusión filosófica respecto del problema flecha del tiempo, campo aún no suficientemente explorado. Se argumentará que para abordar esta problemática en el terreno de la relatividad general, es necesario dejar de focalizar en las propiedades formales de las leyes físicas y en el concepto de invariancia temporal, para orientar nuestra búsqueda hacia las propiedades del espacio-tiempo.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Traditionally, from the viewpoint of the philosophy of physics, the problem of the arrow of time has been addressed considering the formal properties exhibited by the fundamental physical laws. In particular, if the laws remain invariant under time reversal, then a privileged temporal direction cannot be distinguished on physical grounds. On the contrary, if a specific law does not remain invariant under time reversal, it is possible to offer a physical and substantial argument for the existence of the arrow of time. However, this strategy has led to several problems, and has contributed to create an atmosphere of skepticism in the field of philosophy of physics, about the potentiality of physics to provide grounds for an asymmetric time. The aim of this article is to show that general relativity seems to be a promising and fruitful field for the philosophical discussion about this matter. It will be argued that it is necessary to put aside the formal properties of the physical laws and the concept of time reversal and, instead, to consider the properties of space-time.

Resumo em Espanhol:

Resumen Una condición usualmente considerada necesaria para el autoengaño consiste en que la creencia que se adquiere o mantiene no debe ser sostenida por la evidencia a disposición del agente. Sin embargo, esta formulación general de la condición es demasiado amplia y requiere de mayor precisión. En el presente artículo se presenta una caracterización de tal condición que intenta superar las objeciones que pueden elevarse contra las formulaciones existentes.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract A condition usually considered necessary for self-deception is that the belief the agent acquires or sustains is not supported by the evidence available to him. However, this formulation is too wide and requires higher accuracy. This article presents a characterization of that condition that intends to overcome the objections that affect the available formulations.