A modal-causal argument for a concrete necessary object

Manuscrito 44 (4):374-417 (2021)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Suppose that it is metaphysically possible that the mereological fusion of all contingent states of affairs has a cause. Whatever the nature of the state of affairs that causes such mereological fusion, it should be metaphysically necessary because, otherwise, it could be part of the mereological fusion it causes. It is possible, then, that there is at least one necessary state of affairs. This state of affairs is a causal relatum, so it must include at least one concrete necessary object. But if something is possibly necessary, then it is necessary because it is not metaphysically contingent whether something is necessary or doesn't. Then, it results that it is metaphysically necessary that there is, at least, a concrete necessary object. This work presents and discusses this argument.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 91,709

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

From states of affairs to a necessary being.Joshua Rasmussen - 2010 - Philosophical Studies 148 (2):183 - 200.
Explaining modal intuition.Nenad Miščević - 2003 - Acta Analytica 18 (1-2):5-41.
Freedom and miracles.John Martin Fischer - 1988 - Noûs 22 (2):235-252.
A Kantian Critique of David Lewis's Modal Realism.Thomas Doty Eudaly - 1989 - Dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Genuine modal realism and the empty world.David Efird & Tom Stoneham - 2005 - European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 1 (1):21-37.
A modal argument against vague objects.Joseph G. Moore - 2008 - Philosophers' Imprint 8:1-17.
A Logical Choice.Tracy Lupher - 2012 - Southwest Philosophy Review 28 (1):237-246.
Causation and fact granularity.Dan Marshall - 2021 - Synthese 199 (3-4):8029-8045.
The modal argument improved.Brian Cutter - 2020 - Analysis 80 (4):629-639.
A Logical Choice.Tracy Lupher - 2012 - Southwest Philosophy Review 28 (1):237-246.

Analytics

Added to PP
2021-12-16

Downloads
19 (#796,059)

6 months
7 (#421,763)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

José Alvarado Marambio
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Parts: A Study in Ontology.Peter M. Simons - 1987 - Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Causation.D. Lewis - 1973 - In Philosophical Papers Ii. Oxford University Press. pp. 159-213.
God and necessity.Brian Leftow - 2012 - Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The Principle of Sufficient Reason: A Reassessment.Alexander R. Pruss - 2006 - New York: Cambridge University Press.

View all 11 references / Add more references