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So-called second causes are not real causes because real ... — Carmelics

Statements: 321,452
Perspectives: 108,905
Topics: 42

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So-called second causes are not real causes because real causes cannot be spatially or temporally distinct from their effects.

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2 reasons for

1 reason against

Reasons For

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Reason for 1 of 2

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1.Genuine causal power requires the cause to be continuously present throughout the production of its effect, as Malebranche argued in his Search After Truth.
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2.Any gap between cause and effect—spatial or temporal—requires an explanatory bridge that itself must be continuously present, making the alleged second cause causally idle.
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3.The only entity capable of bridging all causal gaps without itself requiring a further bridge is an omnipresent, continuously acting substance such as God.
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Reason for 2 of 2

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1.Hume demonstrated that we never observe necessary connection between distinct existences, only constant conjunction, undermining the credibility of transeunt causation entirely.
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2.If spatiotemporally distinct relata lack observable necessary connection, the causal relation between them is merely nominal, not a genuine productive relation.
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3.Edwards's occasionalism preserves genuine productive causation precisely by locating it in an immanent divine act rather than in a nominal relation between discrete finite events.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against

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1.A real cause cannot produce effects in a time and place in which the cause itself is not present.
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2.Second causes are spatially or temporally distinct from their effects.
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Related

A real cause cannot produce effects in a time and place in which the cause itsel...Any gap between cause and effect—spatial or temporal—requires an explanatory bri...Edwards's occasionalism preserves genuine productive causation precisely by loca...Genuine causal power requires the cause to be continuously present throughout th...

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Hume demonstrated that we never observe necessary connection between distinct ex...If spatiotemporally distinct relata lack observable necessary connection, the ca...Second causes are spatially or temporally distinct from their effects.The only entity capable of bridging all causal gaps without itself requiring a f...

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Second causes are not real causes because real causes necessitate thei...92%If second causes were real causes, they would be sufficient on their o...87%Second causes are not real causes because if they were sufficient to p...84%Second causes are spatially or temporally distinct from their effects.82%

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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

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

Details

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