PHI 014S Lecture 6: Causation and Contingency by Thomas Aquinas
14 Mar 2018
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Document Summary
The universe caused itself, the universe is the result of a causal chain stretching infinitely back into the past, the universe was caused by a first cause. So, in order to cause itself, the universe would have to have existed before it existed. This is impossible: (b) is impossible: first cause. But if we remove the first cause, we remove all its effects. So, without a first cause, there would be no causes or effects today. Since there are causes and effects today, an infinite chain is impossible: since both (a) and (b) are impossible, (c) must be true: there was a first cause: god. The argument from contingency destroyed). universe. there would be nothing that could bring anything else into existence). we call god. Problems for the causation argument commonly associated with god: aquinas says that there cannot be an infinite series of causes, because this would take away the first cause.
