Notes for 1/23/2026

 1/23/2026
Do you think there has to be a reason for everything?

A > A 
Another version of cosmological argument

Suppose we divide things that exist into two groups: Those that exist because of something else, and those that exist because of themselves (allowing self-causation or necessary existence).

1.    Everything that exists is either a dependent being or a necessary being. 
2.    The universe exists.
3.    The universe is either a dependent being or a necessary being. [from 1 & 2]
4.    It is impossible that only dependent beings exist.
5.    Therefore, there has to be at least one necessary being. [from 1 & 4]
6.    The universe can’t be a necessary being. (first, because the universe can be conceived not to have existed, second because the universe changes – and necessary beings must be unchanging). [from 2, 3, and 4]
7.    Something other than the universe is a necessary being. [from 5 & 6]
8.    That thing can only be God.
9.    Therefore, God exists.


What, exactly, is the universe (or “multi-verse”)?
The totality of physical beings.
Every physical being is a dependent being.
The totality of physical beings can’t be a necessary being.
(fallacy of composition = thinking that a bunch of things is something over and above the things that make up the bunch)





Two traditional lines of criticism for this argument:

First, the main justification for thinking there can’t be only dependent beings has been the rejection of infinite regresses.
“If explanation is infinitely regressive, then nothing is really explained.”


…. A > B > C 


Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR):
-    There must a reason for EVERYTHING.
-    For any given truth, there must be an explanation as to WHY it is true (rather than not). Philosophers have generally divided all true statements into two classes: analytic truths and synthetic truths. A claim is analytically true if it is true in virtue of meanings or definitions or the concepts involved (example: all squares have 4 sides). A synthetic truth is one that is true in virtue of the facts we find in the world. 
-    There are also necessary truths (could not possibly be false) and contingent truths (true, but could have been false).


Is PSR true?

Could “brute facts” exist?