Closed time-like curves (CTCs) naturally appear in a variety of chronology-violating space–times. In these space–times, the principle of self-consistency demands a harmony between local and global affairs that excludes grandfather-like paradoxes. However, self-existing objects trapped in CTCs are not seemingly avoided by the standard interpretation of this principle, usually constrained to a dynamical framework. In this letter we discuss whether we are committed to accept an ontology with self-existing objects if CTCs actually occur in the universe. In addition, the epistemological status of the principle of self-consistency is analyzed and a discussion on the information flux through CTCs is presented.