The contingency argument—A reply

Brian Medlin has excluded the possibility of something being self-explanatory in anything but a logical sense. Hence any non-logical necessity has always to be in terms of something other than the explicand. In this context, the principle of sufficient reason cannot escape contraction to a form so p...

Descrizione completa

Salvato in:  
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autore principale: Miller, Barry (Autore)
Tipo di documento: Elettronico Articolo
Lingua:Inglese
Verificare la disponibilità: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Caricamento...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Pubblicazione: Springer Netherlands 1967
In: Sophia
Anno: 1967, Volume: 6, Fascicolo: 1, Pagine: 8-20
Altre parole chiave:B Logical Necessity
B Present Actuality
B Brute Fact
B Sufficient Reason
B Logical Truth
Accesso online: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Descrizione
Riepilogo:Brian Medlin has excluded the possibility of something being self-explanatory in anything but a logical sense. Hence any non-logical necessity has always to be in terms of something other than the explicand. In this context, the principle of sufficient reason cannot escape contraction to a form so patently useless that no proponent of the contingency argument would want to employ it. Many of the objections in Section 4 have point, however, only against an argument which uses such an unacceptable form of the principle., The objections in Section 5 are directed against an argument framed in the only other way allowable under Medlin’s dichotomy, but which is of no use to the theist, for the simple-reason that its conclusion is not existential in the required (present actuality) sense. Objections against such an argument would concern the theist only if their validity were so wide as to embrace a truly existential argument as well. As we have-seen it is in just that case that they break down., In neither Section 4 nor 5, therefore, does the article come to grips with the contingency argument. The objections leave it untouched, because neither of Medlin’s notions of contingency and necessity corresponds to that which is operative in the argument.
ISSN:1873-930X
Comprende:Enthalten in: Sophia
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/BF02789883