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    Carmelics

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

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that God alone is the only real cause.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 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 for 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

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 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

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