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Bertrand Russell's problem is with what he think the First Cause argument is. He writes that it is "If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause.", but it's more like "everything that has a beginning has a cause" or "every effect has a cause". The First Cause is not an effect, so the First Cause does not have a cause.
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If we agree that all effects must have a cause, then by necessity there must be an un-caused cause.
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Why must there be an un-caused cause, couldn't there just be an infinite chain of causes?
If we accept all events have a cause doesn't that mean it is impossible for there to be a first event, or God?
I think this question arises out of two contradictory claims-
1) every event has a cause,
2) there is an event that didn't have a cause or caused itself,
So I think this is a riddle that doesn't have a satisfactory answer.
Furthermore saying there is a first cause and it is called "God", seems like a very superficial solution. I don't think it really helps us understand the causes of things, and it is certainly a long leap from this idea to the view that God wrote the bible or any of the other ideas we have about God.
title: 'Re: Bertrand Russell'
text: 'Why must there be an un-caused cause, couldn't there just be an infinite chain of causes?
If we accept all events have a cause doesn't that mean it is impossible for there to be a first event, or God?
I think this question arises out of two contradictory claims-
1) every event has a cause,
2) there is an event that didn't have a cause or caused itself,
So I think this is a riddle that doesn't have a satisfactory answer.
Furthermore saying there is a first cause and it is called "God", seems like a very superficial solution. I don't think it really helps us understand the causes of things, and it is certainly a long leap from this idea to the view that God wrote the bible or any of the other ideas we have about God.'
tags: martinking,
date: 2013-08-07 18:49:11
submitter:
martinking
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