On Mon, Jan. 17, 2011 at 1:56 PM, Craig <[email protected]> wrote:
I'm all for "the cause-and-effect precept of finitude in
space/time", but how does it allegedly lead to the paradox
of infinite regression? Do you have an argument for that?
[Ham]
You expressed [the argument] above when you said
"a creator cannot create itself."
This is a true statement, but not the requisite argument.
[Ham]
If everything has a cause, then who or
what caused the Creator? The paradox, of course, is that
the law of 'cause-and-effect' applied to metaphysics would
hold that there is no primary source because an infinite series
of "causes" is required to create the Creator. The idea of the
first cause being an "uncreated" source seems to have eluded
the philosophers.
[Ham, reconstructed]
1) If everything has a cause, there must already have been an
infinite series of causes
2) There cannot already have been an infinite series of causes
3) :. Not everything has a cause
4) Every cause has a source/creator
5) :. There must have been an uncreated source/creator
So it seems that "the cause-and-effect precept of finitude in
space/time", does not lead to the paradox of infinite regression
(as you claimed), but rather to the conclusion that 5) There must
have been an uncreated source/creator? But that "There must
have been an uncreated source/creator" does not entail there
still is one.
I didn't say there could not have been an infinite series of causes, but
that this precondition is an "infinite regression". I think most logicians
would view that as a paradox. The temporal issue implied by "is" and "was"
does not affect an immutable source. Following Meister Eckhart's precept, I
have posited Essence as Absolute 'IS-ness', which equates to "eternal".
But thanks for your thoughtful analysis, Craig. You've provided logical
support for an uncreated Source.
Best regards,
Ham
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