Predestination is something that haunts time philosophy. Predestination is a form of time loop, in which, the time traveler is caught in a loop of events that predestines them to travel back in time, thus fulfilling their role to create the future. This loop can be seen in the film, The Terminator.
Firstly, in The Terminator, the character Kyle Reese (27 years old) must go back in time to become the father of his future leader, John Connor (33 years old). Does not make sense right? Well, this is predestination at its finest. Kyle Reese was born in 2002 and was sent back in time to 1984 to become the father of his future leader who had not been born yet. As time progressed, Kyle (under the tutelage of his son, John) would be prompted to go back to the future, thus creating the loop.
In "Making Things to Have Happened", authors Chisholm and Taylor discuss the sufficiency and impossibility. The impossibility is the focus of The Terminator. Impossibility is it is impossible for event B to take place without event A taking place. And,in case of The Terminator, it is impossible for event A to take place without event B. This is defining the loop in simplest terms.
But my biggest question for you all is "Is it possible to break this loop"?
This is the same issue that i had to think about when i was watching the Terminator as well. If Kyle is sent back to have John Conner be his son and send Kyle back again in the future for his present self, how can that happen? In the present Kyle dies and would never be able to be sent back in time when that time occurs again. The only reasoning that i could come up with is that it is a movie of course, nothing makes sense in movies. Another way of looking at it may be a very abstract way of thinking, but that there are parallel universes that very similar, and that the Kyle Reese from another universe was sent to the universe we were watching to warn and change that present universe from befalling the same fate that his did. This of course can never be proved which is why it is so perfect for a movie. James Cameron does a good job in connecting the two though so that this is never thought of unless you are in a philosophy course which challenges you analytical skills. The loop can be shut and closed like you said, but that does not mean that another loop will open. It just goes to show you how everything is connected in a way.
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