Questions tagged [principle-of-sufficient-reason]
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If a conclusion logically follows from premises that are true in the world, will the conclusion also be true of the world?
If a set of premises is true in the world, and we rigorously apply logic to those premises to reach a conclusion, will that conclusion necessarily also be true of the world? If so, does this imply that (deductive) logic is an inherent feature of the…
user80226
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Does quantum mechanics disprove the Principle of Sufficient Reason?
Lets say a scientist were to perform the double slit experiment. He sends in one electron through the slits and then that he measures the random location on his measurement device after the wavefunction collapses. Now if one were to ask what was the…
user289980
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Has anyone proven the Principle of Sufficient Reason?
The Principle of Sufficient Reason is simply stated: “For every fact F, there must be an explanation why F is the case” (Melamed and Lin 2016, §1). The principle is most closely associated with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (Melamed and Lin 2016, §3),…
Mark Andrews
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Does the PSR violate Occam’s razor?
The principle of sufficient reason (PSR) in a nutshell says that things happen for a reason. Occam’s razor suggests to not postulate things that bring in additional assumptions without doing any explanatory work. But isn’t the postulate that things…
Baby_philosopher
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Spinoza's reverse Principle of Sufficient Reason
The following is a quote from Spinoza's Ethics:
Of everything whatsoever a cause or reason must be assigned, either for its existence, or for its non—existence—e.g. if a triangle exist, a reason or cause must be granted for its existence; if, on…
yonatankremer
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Why do many philosophers consider a past-eternal universe to be self-explanatory but not a universe that began with no cause?
In philosophical papers that argue against theistic interpretations, many philosophers fight to demonstrate that the Big Bang was not a true beginning but merely a transformation, arguing that the entirety of physical reality is beginningless,…
Blaxium
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Are explanations entailments?
Some philosophers say that explanations involve an entailment relation, that is if X explains Y then that means that X entails Y. Is this a valid way of understanding explanations? If not, what does it mean for X to explain Y? Further reading on…
Bob
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Does quantum mechanics rule out the principle of sufficient reason?
The Principle of Sufficient Reason is a philosophical principle stipulating that everything must have a reason, cause, or ground. My question is: does quantum mechanics serve as evidence against it as I’ve seen some stipulate here? Do things…
user62907
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How do Thomists prove that: "Everything that exists must exist by something."?
One variation of principle of sufficient reason that Thomists use is:
Everything that exists must exist by something.
How do they prove such a statement? In particular, why can not something just exist (de facto) and not by anything else?
Edit.
I…
Thom
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Can the PSR be true for everything except the universe?
There is something called the principle of sufficient reason: everything happens for a reason. I believe that everything happens for a reason because inductively, that has been the case every time. It would be odd for some things to happen for no…
Baby_philosopher
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Everything must have a cause?
In a possible reality, if something came into existence without something giving rise to it, the fact would be that , there was nothing stopping something from coming into existence without anything giving rise to it, and if this was the existing…
loopit
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Does the Principle of Sufficient Reason imply everything is necessary?
Leibniz's Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR) states that: for every fact F, there must be a sufficient reason why F is the case (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sufficient-reason/#WhatSuffReas). This applies to all contingent facts.
For…
Georgia
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How can the quality of "something being very improbable" be used as a philosophical argument?
Do you understand Marcelo Gleiser's "colossal waste of time" reasoning?
Physicist Marcelo Gleiser objects to the notion that posthumans would
have a reason to run simulated universes: "...being so advanced they
would have collected enough knowledge…
TheMatrix Equation-balance
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On the axiomatic behavior of the principle of sufficient reason
Have a look at the most controversial principle popularized as the principle of sufficient reason (PSR):
I mean that the concept of PSR, which has been introduced by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, remains as an axiom. Otherwise, including the question I…
Messi Lio
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A quantum mechanical response to van Inwagen's rejection of the PSR
Peter van Inwagen famously rejected the PSR due to his argument that it implied necessitarianism: Take the conjunct C of all contingent facts. Being contingent itself, the PSR demands an explanation F. F must be necessary. But if F is necessary and…
Mark
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