Hi John Clark Another way to express the sufficient reason argument is to say that whatever happened was caused to happen. You don't have to know what the cause was, or even if that cause had a reason. All you are saying is that something caused this to happen. "Something caused this", whatever that cause may be, is the sufficient reason.
So if I cause something to happen, I don't need a reason, because the reason it happened is that I caused it to happen. This is the Hume-Leibniz explanation or theory of causation. And this "cause" can either be a free will act or a determined one, it doesn't matter. Roger Clough, [email protected] 10/13/2012 "Forever is a long time, especially near the end." -Woody Allen ----- Receiving the following content ----- From: John Clark Receiver: everything-list Time: 2012-10-12, 16:25:16 Subject: Re: The missing agent of materialism On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 , Roger Clough wrote: > IMHO everything that happens happens for a reason. Opinions, humble or otherwise, really don't count for much, the universe will continue doing what it is doing regardless of your opinion; and modern physics tells us that it is EXTREMELY unlikely that? "everything that happens happens for a reason". But for the sake of argument let's assume you're correct, then you are as deterministic a cuckoo clock. > The reason can be physical or IMHO mental. It makes perfect sense to say "I picked X and not Y just because I wanted to",? in that case there was a reason for me doing what I did just as there was a reason for the cuckoo clock doing what it did. And because "everything happens for a reason" then there must be a reason I wanted to pick X not Y.? > Which is IMHO why life, intelligence and free will are inseparable. It's astonishing how so many people say that "free will" is of central importance and yet not one of them can give a coherent explanation of what the hell it's supposed to mean. ? John K Clark ? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
