Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

Abstract

Causal loops are a recurring feature in the philosophy of time travel, where it is generally agreed that they are logically possible but may come with a theoretical cost. This paper introduces an unfamiliar set of causal loop cases involving knowledge or beliefs about the future: self-fulfilling prophecy loops (SFP loops). I show how and when such loops arise and consider their relationship to more familiar causal loops.

Keywords

• causal loops
• self-fulfilling prophecies
• time travel
• foreknowledge
• coincidence
• inexplicability