(October 3, 2021 at 3:48 pm)Klorophyll Wrote:(September 23, 2021 at 11:23 pm)Jehanne Wrote: Instead of starting with a beginning-less past until the present, start with the present and go back into the past (which astronomers do with telescopes); you'll simply go on forever and ever.
Start with the present and go back into the past...........Um, seriously ?
Discussing the past and the present is not like discussing a set of numbers. Again, you're simply equivocating between an actual infinity and a potential infinity. An eternal past is an actual infinity, we can't just jump to the present, we really did go through an eternal past to get here. And because one can't go through an infinite period of time, an eternal past is impossible.
But if there was no beginning, then the time interval between any two *actually existing* times is always finite.
The mistake you seem to be making is thinking that there is a start and *then* an infinite amount of time leading to now. That is NOT what is proposed.
Yes, I am talking about an *actually infinite* past. In other words, that there i no beginning. In other words, that there is an infinite regress of causes.
Why would *that* imply we 'could never get here'?
Give a detailed argument why there could not be an infinite past that doesn't simply claim that we could not 'get here' without an argument *why* we couldn't.
In particular, when you say we couldn't 'get here', exactly *from where* are you saying it is impossible?