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
    God alone is the only real cause. — Carmelics
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Divine Attributes
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    God alone is the only real cause.

    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.A real cause must not be spatially or temporally separate from its effects; God, not being in time or space, meets this condition.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.A real cause must necessitate its effects; God, being essentially omnipotent, necessarily achieves whatever God wills.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.A real cause must be fully sufficient for its effects without cooperation from other causal powers; God, being omnipotent and sovereign, meets this condition.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Malebranche's occasionalism, which Edwards resembles, faces Leibniz's objection that a God who must constantly intervene to produce effects is less perfect than one who creates substances with genuine causal powers.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If secondary causes have no real causal powers, then God is directly responsible for every evil act, undermining any theodicy that relies on creaturely freedom or deficiency as the source of evil.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Hume's regularity theory shows that causal necessity is not an intrinsic feature of any single agent but a pattern of constant conjunction, so P2's demand for necessitation disqualifies even God as a 'real cause' on empirical grounds.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Edwards's criterion that a real cause must be fully sufficient without cooperation from other powers proves too much, as it entails that a God who creates mediating natural laws is not the real cause of their effects either.
      ?

      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

    Divine AttributesCausation

    Related

    A real cause must be fully sufficient for its effects without cooperation from o...A real cause must necessitate its effects; God, being essentially omnipotent, ne...A real cause must not be spatially or temporally separate from its effects; God,...Edwards's criterion that a real cause must be fully sufficient without cooperati...
    +4 moreShow less
    Hume's regularity theory shows that causal necessity is not an intrinsic feature...If secondary causes have no real causal powers, then God is directly responsible...Malebranche's occasionalism, which Edwards resembles, faces Leibniz's objection ...Second causes fail all three conditions for being a real cause.

    Similar

    God is the only real cause.90%God is the only true cause.88%God is the only true substance and the only true cause81%If all causal production of mental and physical events originates sole...80%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: edwards
    View source passageHide passage
    Edwards implicitly distinguishes between a real or true cause and a cause in the ordinary or “vulgar” sense. The latter is “that, after or upon the existence of which, or the existence of it after such a manner, the existence of another thing follows” (“The Mind,” no. 26; Edwards 1957–, vol. 6, 350). Vulgar causes aren't real causes, however. In the first place, so-called second causes are spatially or temporally distinct from their effects, and “no [real] cause can produce effects in a time and
    Extraction notes

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

    Details

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