Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Eternal truths are necessary — Carmelics
    Home/Modality & Possibility
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Eternal truths are necessary

    Modality & PossibilityTruth & Knowledge
    ?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.God willed eternal truths to be necessary
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If God willed a truth to be necessary, then it is false that it could have been otherwise
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.God's omnipotence entails that God could have willed otherwise even regarding eternal truths, as Descartes himself affirms in letters to Mersenne (1630).
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If God could have willed eternal truths to be otherwise, then eternal truths are contingent on God's will, not necessary in themselves.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Therefore the very theological grounding meant to secure necessity instead undermines it, collapsing into a divine voluntarism incompatible with genuine necessity.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Necessity, properly construed (as in Leibniz's critique of Descartes), requires truth in all possible worlds including those where God wills differently.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If eternal truths depend on divine fiat, they are necessary only relative to God's actual will, not absolutely—making them what Leibniz calls merely 'moral' necessities.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Relative or conditional necessity is categorically distinct from the absolute necessity the claim asserts, exposing an equivocation in the original argument.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Modality & PossibilityTruth & Knowledge

    Connections

    1 linked claim · 1 topic

    Divine Attributes2 linked
    Axioms are necessary truths

    Related

    Axioms are necessary truthsGod willed eternal truths to be necessaryGod's omnipotence entails that God could have willed otherwise even regarding et...If God could have willed eternal truths to be otherwise, then eternal truths are...
    +5 moreShow less
    If God willed a truth to be necessary, then it is false that it could have been ...If eternal truths depend on divine fiat, they are necessary only relative to God...Necessity, properly construed (as in Leibniz's critique of Descartes), requires ...Relative or conditional necessity is categorically distinct from the absolute ne...Therefore the very theological grounding meant to secure necessity instead under...

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: descartes-modal
    View source passageHide passage
    On Curley’s reading, Descartes secures the necessity of eternal truths by arguing that God willed them to be necessary, and hence it can be said that it is false that they could have been otherwise. But Descartes also holds that God created the possibility that they not be necessary, and that is why they are not necessarily necessary, as it could have been the case that they could have been otherwise. Some commentators have argued that a problem for Curley’s view is that it cannot allow Descarte
    Extraction notes

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

    Details

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