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    Finite human minds are not the source of motion in bodies. — Carmelics
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    Finite human minds are not the source of motion in bodies.

    Divine AttributesNatural Theology
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Human minds cannot affect their own bodies in certain ways, either because some bodily processes are immune to voluntary influence or because of old age or injury.
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    • 2.Restricting ourselves to observation, we never experience a causal connection between volitions and bodily actions, only temporal succession.
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    • 3.If finite minds could produce motion in bodies at will, it would upset God's conserved quantity of motion in the world.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Descartes' interactionist account holds that mind and body form a genuine union, with the pineal gland as the locus of causal exchange.
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    • 2.The mere absence of observed necessary connection does not eliminate real causal power, as Malebranche's own critics (e.g., Arnauld) argued that occasionalism conflates epistemic and ontological limits.
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    • 3.If finite minds routinely correlate specific volitions with specific bodily motions, the burden of proof lies with the denial of efficient causation, not its affirmation.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Leibniz's pre-established harmony preserves genuine mental causation within each substance's own series, making finite minds true sources of their representational and appetitive states.
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    • 2.God's conservation of a quantity of motion is compatible with finite minds initiating motion if God's decree itself constitutes a standing permission for such transfers, as Leibniz's vis viva framework suggests.
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    Topics

    Divine AttributesNatural Theology

    Connections

    1 linked claim · 3 topics

    Causation3 linkedConsciousness & Mind1 linkedPerception1 linked
    Finite minds are not the source of motion in bodies.

    Related

    Descartes' interactionist account holds that mind and body form a genuine union,...Finite minds are not the source of motion in bodies.God's conservation of a quantity of motion is compatible with finite minds initi...Human minds cannot affect their own bodies in certain ways, either because some ...
    +5 moreShow less
    If finite minds could produce motion in bodies at will, it would upset God's con...If finite minds routinely correlate specific volitions with specific bodily moti...

    Similar

    Finite minds are not the source of motion in bodies.97%Matter and motion cannot produce thought and intelligence82%If things are not ideas in human minds, they must be ideas in some oth...82%If finite minds could produce motion in bodies at will, it would upset...79%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: cordemoy
    View source passageHide passage
    As for the first mover, it could not itself be a body, since if it were, it would have to have motion of itself (for as first mover, where else would it get it?), and this has been shown to be impossible for bodies. Thus we may also conclude that the first mover is not a body. But there being only two kinds of substances (Cordemoy’s third axiom), bodies and minds, only a mind remains as a candidate for the first mover. Further, it is clear that our (finite) minds are not the source of motion in
    Extraction notes

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

    Details

    Leibniz's pre-established harmony preserves genuine mental causation within each...
    Restricting ourselves to observation, we never experience a causal connection be...
    The mere absence of observed necessary connection does not eliminate real causal...
    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit