Stage One of the Aristotelian Proof: A Critical Appraisal

Sophia 60 (4):781-796 (2021)
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Abstract

What explains change? Edward Feser argues in his ‘Aristotelian proof’ that the only adequate answer to these questions is ultimately in terms of an unchangeable, purely actual being. In this paper, I target the cogency of Feser’s reasoning to such an answer. In particular, I present novel paths of criticism—both undercutting and rebutting—against one of Feser’s central premises. I then argue that Feser’s inference that the unactualized actualizer lacks any potentialities contains a number of non-sequiturs.

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Author's Profile

Joseph Schmid
Princeton University

Citations of this work

Grounding, infinite regress, and the thomistic cosmological argument.Thomas Oberle - 2022 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 92 (3):147-166.

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References found in this work

There Must Be A First: Why Thomas Aquinas Rejects Infinite, Essentially Ordered, Causal Series.Caleb Cohoe - 2013 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 21 (5):838 - 856.
Existential inertia and the Aristotelian proof.Joseph C. Schmid - 2020 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 89 (3):201-220.
God and Emotion.R. T. Mullins - 2020 - Cambridge University Press.

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