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    A simple cause has one and only one simple effect. — Carmelics
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
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    42
    Home/Divine Attributes
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    A simple cause has one and only one simple effect.

    CausationDivine Attributes
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Each effect must be fully explained by its cause.
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    • 2.If a simple cause produced more than one effect, the difference between the two effects would be unexplainable, since each is supposed to be fully explained by the same cause.
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    • 3.Whatever cannot be explained violates the Principle of Sufficient Reason.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Aquinas's doctrine of divine simplicity holds that God is absolutely simple yet produces causally distinct creatures with irreducibly different essences (ST I, q.3).
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    • 2.The Thomistic resolution—that effects differ due to their finite receptive capacity, not from plurality in the cause—demonstrates that causal differentiation need not entail complexity in the cause.
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    • 3.Therefore, the inference from 'same simple cause' to 'indistinguishable effects' wrongly attributes the source of differentiation to the cause rather than to the ontological structure of the effect.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Leibniz's own monadology shows a simple substance (God) producing an infinite plurality of distinct monads, each with unique perceptual content.
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    • 2.If the originator of PSR himself requires a simple cause to produce multiple distinct effects, the entailment from simplicity to singular effect is internally inconsistent with the PSR tradition.
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    Topics

    Divine AttributesCausation

    Connections

    1 linked claim · 1 topic

    Truth & Knowledge2 linked
    A simple cause can have only one simple effect.

    Related

    A simple cause can have only one simple effect.Aquinas's doctrine of divine simplicity holds that God is absolutely simple yet ...Each effect must be fully explained by its cause.If a simple cause produced more than one effect, the difference between the two ...
    +5 moreShow less
    If the originator of PSR himself requires a simple cause to produce multiple dis...Leibniz's own monadology shows a simple substance (God) producing an infinite pl...The Thomistic resolution—that effects differ due to their finite receptive capac...Therefore, the inference from 'same simple cause' to 'indistinguishable effects'...Whatever cannot be explained violates the Principle of Sufficient Reason.

    Similar

    A simple cause can have only one simple effect.99%If a simple cause produced more than one effect, the difference betwee...83%God is discovered to be simple and dependent on no cause through this ...81%Multiple effects from a single apparent cause would otherwise be unexp...79%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: sufficient-reason
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    Spinoza holds not only that the existence of things must be explained, but also that the coherence, or incoherence, of their essences (what others would call their possibility) must be explained (E1p33s1). Similarly, the essences of things must also have a cause (E1p25). In general, many commentators have thought that Spinoza relies, either explicitly or implicitly on the PSR to motivate many of his most important and innovative doctrines, such as the Identity of Indiscernibles (E1p4. Although s
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit