RE: The Principle of Contingent Causation: The Impossibility of Infinite Regress.
July 3, 2023 at 1:15 am
(July 2, 2023 at 11:37 pm)Nishant Xavier Wrote:ergo my statement was true, noteably you've ignored it.(July 2, 2023 at 9:21 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: Implicit in your argument is that a "being" of some sort or other caused anything.Thump:
Looks like begging the question to me. Reformulate your argument so that this undemonstrated premise is not present, and resubmit.
1 is a basic Truth observed in Nature. You are contingent upon your parents, they on theirs, and this is true for animals, birds, and even other beings that are contingent upon the Planet's Existence in the first place. Therefore, that every contingent being is dependent on a prior being's existence is absolutely true and does not assume anything other than the stated premise itself. "beings of some sort" do cause other beings.
As soon as you see that every contingent being is dependent on another prior being, you should be able to see clearly that every being in existence cannot possibly be contingent being. In other words, at least One Being in Existence exists non-contingently.
The argument does not necessarily have to prove more than that. But it is successful in showing that much, unless either 1 or 2 can be refuted.
If you want to refute 1, give some examples of contingent beings that are not dependent on the existence of prior beings. 2 or 3 will suffice.
If you want to refute 2, you can try, but how would you even begin to do that? 2 is a logical and mathematical Truth. 3 follows from 1 and 2.
Regards,
Xavier.
"For the only way to eternal glory is a life lived in service of our Lord, FSM; Verily it is FSM who is the perfect being the name higher than all names, king of all kings and will bestow upon us all, one day, The great reclaiming" -The Prophet Boiardi-
Conservative trigger warning.