In his paper, The Paradoxes of Time Travel, David Lewis posits a defense for the possibility of time travel by arguing that the grandfather 'paradox' is not, in fact, paradoxical at all. Two alternative solutions to the grandfather paradox are discussed in this paper. The first is a result of Paul Horwich’s reply to Lewis and aims to pit the Lewisian conception of compatibility against Horwich’s improbability defense. Proposed by Nicholas Smith and C.G. Goddu, this theory explains that any attempt at backward time travel will lead to the creation of long strings of improbable coincidences. An alternative thesis of the multiverse is also discussed, wherein it was proposed that instead of traveling into his past, the time traveler enters an alternate, yet completely identical universe. The multiverse thesis did not stand up to any philosophical critique, and it was posited that the thesis changes the nature of the question entirely. It is evident that Lewis’ discussion of the grandfather paradox raises several fundamentally interesting philosophical questions regarding the logical and causal irregularities of changing the past. This paper aims to adress some of these questions through a metaphysical analysis of Lewis' view, backwards causality, and the nature of time itself.

This dissertation addresses three novel aspects of children’s future thinking: First is a study of 3- to 5-year-olds’ capacity to think about the future across two different conceptual domains. Specifically, children had to think ahead to meet either a future physiological need (desire for food) or psychological need (avoiding boredom). Most future thinking tasks only require children to plan in one domain, this despite that future thinking is presumably domain general in humans. Children were better at addressing a future need for food than a future need for toys, with even 3-year-olds succeeding above chance. This study also served as an opportunity to replicate the results of a previous similar task (Atance et al., 2015) and improve the task by removing unnecessary components (social, pretense). Second is a study of 3- to 5-year-olds’ spontaneous talk (as a proxy for spontaneous thought) about the future and past within the context of a behavioural future thinking task. Spontaneous or involuntary thought about the past and future are ubiquitous in adult cognition. Few developmental studies have investigated past spontaneous thought, and none have investigated future spontaneous thought. Children of all ages spontaneously spoke about the future and past and some children even spontaneously solved the future thinking task. Further, children who spontaneously spoke more about the past and future were more likely to correctly answer an explicit test question. Third is an attempt at addressing a limitation in all existing behavioural future thinking tasks: That is, tasks used to assess the development of future thinking do not require children to think ahead about a future state of the world that differs from the present. Children could potentially be solving behavioural future thinking tasks without having to represent the future. However, representing a future that differs from the present is argued to be core to adaptive future thinking in humans. To overcome this limitation, we modified an existing task so that children could not succeed based on their representation of how the world currently is but, rather, how it will be at a future point in time. Four- to 7-year-olds all remembered the information required to solve the modified task; however, only 7-year-olds made a future-oriented decision more often than chance. With the task modification removed (so the correct answer for the present and future matched), even 4-year-olds succeeded above chance. These findings challenge the current accounts that suggest by age 4, children can reliably succeed in future thinking tasks. Taken together, this research program contributes new insights to the development of future thinking in early childhood and suggests directions for novel research.

(Pilot, One-Hour Drama, YA, Sci-Fi) A rebellious physics student investigating her twin’s disappearance invents time travel only to strand herself in the blood-stained amusement parks of 1907 Coney Island with a killer on the loose.

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This study focuses on the relationship between the author’s narrative craft and the potential for the reader’s empathetic response. Specifically, it discusses how an anachronous narrative structure provides the author with different ways to promote empathy. The discussion of empathy is key in the discussion of narrative craft: great characters are those a reader can empathise with. But the discussion of empathy runs deeper than this, with many scholars turning to the wider effects literature can have on a reader’s moral compass (Nussbaum 1997) and even their real-world behaviour (Keen 2007). This study sets aside the question of how to produce empathy and turns instead to the author’s craft. I have assessed the author’s capability of promoting empathy by building a framework of tools for the author (dubbed The Empathy Toolbox) from several studies conducted by narratology theorists. I have then analysed this in relation to my own work and that of Audrey Niffenegger and Kurt Vonnegut with a particular focus on characterisation and how this is affected by anachrony. This study is of value to all writers of creative fiction, as anachronous timelines can be employed across a breadth of genres using plot devices like flashbacks, flash-forwards and dream sequences. Furthermore, it provides authors with tools to aid their craft and help their work resonate with any reader, not just those that might have a similar background to their protagonist.

This study discusses how the literary device of time travel can limit or empower protagonists. The main focus is on H.G. Wells The Time Machine and the two films of the same name inspired by the novel. The popularity of time travel in film springs from the myriad storytelling possibilities the device provides, and the writers agenda determines what place, if any, logic and causality have in the story. Some narratives endorse the theory of eternalism, where time is fixed and the time travellers actions are fated to be consistent with the history the traveller knows. But many films rely on theories of multiple timelines and many worlds, giving the traveller a much greater range of agency. Paradoxes of causality can inhibit the travellers actions as well. This essay discusses the broad spectrum in time travel narrative, where at one end travellers are imprisoned in history, and at the other they enjoy a great deal of freedom.

The main objective of this master thesis is to clarify the nested structure in time consciousness, depending on mental time travel and episodic memory. Time consciousness, mental time travel and episodic memory are connected, and function depending on each other. Mental time travel ability enables us to imagine personal future events. Episodic memory allows us to travel mentally into both past and future. Similarity between remembering the past and imagining the future indicates that episodic memory system contribute to future-directed personal mental time travel competence, and justifies the relation between episodic memory and mental time travel into both past and future. Episodic memory requires autonoetic consciousness, which can be applied to mental time travel competence, and mental time travel is a function of episodic memory. Distinguishing humans and non-humans is a method to understand the role of episodic memory and mental time travel in time consciousness. Episodic memory and mental time travel indicate to a higher-level time consciousness in humans, because mental time travel, episodic memory, autonoetic consciousness and recursive language are unique to humans, while non-humans show future-directed acts, possess episodic-like memory, and communicate with limited ways. Time consciousness is derived from the notion of autonoetic consciousness and it is a sort of temporal consciousness which enables us to be conscious of ourselves who travels in time and aware of ourselves along the temporal line. Non-humans have a rudimentary form of time consciousness, even they are deprived of autonoetic consciousness.

This study elevates the importance of experience, the senses and tacit knowledge in relation to archaeology with a focus on music. With this I take up a thread drawing on theoretical aspects of Polanyi’s ‘Tacit Dimension’ and ‘Ingold’s Lines’.  I review paradigms in experimental archaeology and music archaeology, and the subject of reconstruction in both.  My case study is of four individuals, whose reconstruction models are connected to artefacts perceived as flutes in the archaeological record and/or notions of prehistoric flutes.  Combining the way in which we learn by understanding others’ experiences through gesture and experience as data, my work examines these ideas in relation to wanting to find out about these flute-making people, and how their work is related to the canon of archaeology to which one might expect that it belongs, and if we can call this a tradition.  What I found was that the praxis is complex and far reaching and stretches into various ontologies through philosophy, religion, emotionalism, intellectualism, symbolism, music, tradition, imagination, experience, sensation and identity, where interrelations of the past, present and future are very evident.  I finally consider archaeology as an art which reveals parallels between archaeology itself and music.  Paradigms in archaeologies in 2013 do not effectively support this praxis of flute making despite contextual experimentation showing welcoming promise for future change.

This study discusses how the literary device of time travel can limit or empower protagonists. The main focus is on H.G. Wells The Time Machine and the two films of the same name inspired by the novel. The popularity of time travel in film springs from the myriad storytelling possibilities the device provides, and the writers agenda determines what place, if any, logic and causality have in the story. Some narratives endorse the theory of eternalism, where time is fixed and the time travellers actions are fated to be consistent with the history the traveller knows. But many films rely on theories of multiple timelines and many worlds, giving the traveller a much greater range of agency. Paradoxes of causality can inhibit the travellers actions as well. This essay discusses the broad spectrum in time travel narrative, where at one end travellers are imprisoned in history, and at the other they enjoy a great deal of freedom.