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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
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Vulgar (second) causes are merely occasions upon which God produces effects according to established methods and laws.

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

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.Malebranche's occasionalism, the tradition Edwards draws on, was refuted by Leibniz: if creatures have no causal power, God performs infinitely many miracles constantly, violating divine simplicity and economy.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.A God who must perpetually intervene at each 'occasion' is less perfect than one who endows creatures with inherent causal natures, as Leibniz argued against Malebranche in the Discourse on Metaphysics.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Secondary causes possessing real productive powers, as Aquinas defended via instrumental causality, is coherent with divine primacy and does not require reducing created agents to mere occasions.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.If God is the sole true cause, human agents cannot be genuinely responsible for their actions, collapsing moral accountability into divine determinism.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Occasionalism's attribution of all causal efficacy to God makes God the direct author of evil acts, undermining divine moral perfection.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.God is the only real cause.
      ?

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    • 2.Events that follow upon so-called second causes are actually produced by God.
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    • 3.God acts according to customary methods and laws, using second causes as occasions for divine action.
      ?

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