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    Perspectives
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    42
    The necessary being is something other than the universe. — Carmelics
    Home/Natural Theology
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The necessary being is something other than the universe.

    Natural 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
    ?
    • 1.A necessary being exists.
      ?

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    • 2.The universe, which is composed of only contingent beings, is contingent.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.The universe as a whole may possess necessary existence even if each constituent part is contingent, as wholes can have properties their parts lack.
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    • 2.Spinoza's substance monism demonstrates a coherent metaphysical framework in which the totality of nature (Deus sive Natura) is itself the necessary being.
      ?

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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.The inference from 'composed of contingent parts' to 'is itself contingent' commits the fallacy of composition, which Kant identified as a core error in cosmological arguments.
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    • 2.A set of contingent elements can form a necessarily self-sustaining causal structure if the members collectively ground each other's existence without remainder.
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    Topics

    Natural Theology

    Related

    A necessary being exists.A set of contingent elements can form a necessarily self-sustaining causal struc...Spinoza's substance monism demonstrates a coherent metaphysical framework in whi...The inference from 'composed of contingent parts' to 'is itself contingent' comm...
    +2 moreShow less
    The universe as a whole may possess necessary existence even if each constituent...The universe, which is composed of only contingent beings, is contingent.

    Similar

    The necessary being cannot be the universe.92%A necessary being exists.88%A necessary being is one in whom possible being is sufficient for actu...88%A more adequate notion of necessary being is that the necessity is met...87%

    Source

    AI-extracted2/3 agreementValid
    SEP: cosmological-argument
    Deductive Argument from Contingency (steps 8–9)
    View source passageHide passage
    However, this contradicts the original conclusion that if total nothingness is metaphysically possible, there are no possible states of affairs in that possible world. Hence, there is a reductio against the original thesis that there can be nothingness. One might counter this reductio not only by questioning the principle that what is metaphysically possible in one world is so in every world, but also by contending that the argument trades on a confusion between metaphysical necessity, as evidenced by appeal to an Aristotelian principle regarding the relationship between actuality and possibil...
    Extraction notes

    Validity: The source passage explicitly presents steps 7–9 of the deductive argument, where from "a necessary being exists" (step 7) and "the universe, which is composed of only contingent beings, is contingent" (step 8), it concludes "the necessary being is something other than the universe" (step 9).

    Confidence: High confidence; explicitly stated as the identification steps of the argument.

    Details

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