Modal argument from contingency
These are in progress and subject to revision. Feedback welcomed.
Last revised: 11/21/24
Simplified four-part argument linked here.
The subpoints provide further clarifying thoughts or definitions.
Stage 1
If a world lacks all things (even non-physical objects, abstractions, states or properties), then it cannot possess the property of lacking all things, so it lacks lack, which is a self-contradiction.
A self-contradiction is not metaphysically possible.
Metaphysically possible refers to something that: (1.) is not logically self-contradictory and (2.) adheres to persistent or necessary truths (e.g., a triangle must have three sides and cannot have four).
Therefore, if a world lacks all things, then it is not metaphysically possible. (hypothetical syllogism)
If a world is metaphysically possible, then it does not lack all things.
The contrapositive of #3 is logically equivalent.
If a world does not lack all things, then at least one thing actually exists (meaning, it has positive ontological status) in that world.
This thing could be some physical or non-physical form of an entity, event, process or state. The modal form in this argument is metaphysical possibility.
Therefore, at least one thing exists in a metaphysically possible world. (hypothetical syllogism)
A modally contingent thing (MCT) is something that could have been otherwise: it can fail or cease to be in some, but not all, states of affair within any possible world, including for specific durations of time.
A modally necessary thing (MNT) is something that could not have been otherwise: it cannot fail or cease to be under any states of affair, including for any specific duration of time, in any possible world.
If a possible world exists, then the well-founded set of all MCTs is either modally: (a) contingent (because there are possible worlds consisting only of at least one MNT) or (b) necessary (even if every possible world consisted at different times of different contingent members or no member at all).
Being well-founded means the set cannot contain itself, directly or indirectly, avoiding self-containing or circularly defined sets.
Therefore, under any circumstance of possible worlds, at least one MNT exists and cannot fail or cease to exist. (modus ponens)
A conditionally dependent thing requires an external condition (factor, cause or circumstance outside itself) to actually exist or have reality in the world.
If all MNTs lacked conditional influence (or causal power), then possible worlds with only a single MCT that happens to be conditionally dependent would lack an external condition to depend on for its existence.
This would lead to a contradiction, as a conditionally dependent thing cannot exist without an external condition to support it.
Therefore, there exists at least one MNT with conditional influence (or causal power) in all possible worlds. (modus tollens)
If a MNT with conditional influence (or causal power) were itself conditionally dependent in any manner, then it would fail or cease to exist in a possible world wherein conditional or causal relations failed or ceased to exist.
This would lead to a contradiction, as a MNT with conditional influence (or causal power) must exist and cannot fail or cease to exist in any possible worlds.
Therefore, any MNT with conditional influence (or causal power) is itself not conditionally or causally dependent in any manner (i.e., it’s an uncaused cause). (modus tollens)
A thing is independent if it exists without causal dependence in any manner.
Independent means being self-sufficient or not relying on anything outside itself to be able to exist.
Self-sufficient means needing no support, resources or conditions outside of itself to continue existing or to be what it is.
If a thing must exist (meaning, it has reality) independently of any external condition and has conditional influence (or causal power), then it is an ontologically necessary influential thing (ONIT).
Having inherent reality means to possess the attribute of being real or actual as a fundamental or essential part of what it is.
Therefore, at least one ONIT exists. (modus ponens)
Stage 2
Per Stage 1, at least one ontologically necessary influential thing (ONIT) must exist and cannot fail or cease to exist.
If a thing is caused, it is possible to fail or cease to exist.
Therefore, an ONIT exists without conditional dependence or cause (meaning, it’s uncaused). (modus tollens)
If a thing could simultaneously be in a state of potentiality (the aptitude or capacity to receive a different state) and a state of actuality (the here-and-now present state) in the same respect, then it would be simultaneously actual and not-actual in the same respect.
It would be a contradiction to be simultaneously actual and not-actual in the same respect.
E.g., a door could not simultaneous be potentially open and actually open in the same respect, for then it would simultaneously be actually closed and actually open, which is a contradiction.
Therefore, a thing cannot be in both a state of potentiality and actuality in the same respect. (modus tollens)
Change requires the actualization of potential. Change means a transformation, an adjustment or a transition from one state, condition, relation or situation to another
If a thing cannot be simultaneously or mutually in states of potentiality and actuality in the same respect, then it cannot move itself from potential to actual in that same respect.
Therefore, change requires a conditional dependence or cause (even if the cause is indeterminate) from beyond itself to provide the source of change. (modus ponens)
Therefore, since an ONIT exists without any conditional dependence or cause beyond itself in any manner, an ONIT cannot change. (modus ponens)
If a thing possesses passive potency (the capacity to be acted upon, changed or influenced by an external force) or is incomplete (remains unfinished or underdeveloped), then it can change.
Therefore, an ONIT lacks passive potency and is complete. (modus tollens)
If a thing with conditional influence (or causal power) lacks any passive potency, that entails it is fully actual.
Fully actual means complete and perfected in its final state, with no potential left for further change or development. It is fully realized and lacks any unfinished or incomplete aspect.
Therefore, an ONIT is fully actual. (modus ponens)
If an ONIT were composed of parts (either physical or metaphysical) or distinct essences, then it would presuppose and depend upon those parts or distinct essences for its existence, contradicting the complete and independent essence of an ONIT.
Parts are the components or pieces that combine to form a whole, which could be physical or tangible or metaphysical in terms of forms/matter or essence/existence.
An essence is a thing’s "whatness" or set of qualities that defines its identity that makes something what it is (e.g., a tree’s essence is being a tree).
Essence determines the kind of thing something is, distinct from other things.
Therefore, an ONIT is not composed of parts or distinct essences of any kind. (modus tollens)
If a thing is not composed of parts or distinct essences of any kind, then it lacks composition and is absolutely simple.
Therefore, an ONIT lacks composition and is absolutely simple. (modus ponens)
If a thing has no parts or distinct essences, the thing is identical to its essence. There is no distinction between what the thing is and how it exists.
Therefore, an ONIT is identical to its essence. (modus ponens)
If a thing is distinct from existence itself (the act of being), that would imply the possibility of either: (a) non-existence or (b) change to some further potential to be actualized.
For a thing that is fully actualized, there is no distinction between what it is (its essence) and that it is (its existence).
An ONIT cannot fail to exist and is fully actual.
Therefore, an ONIT is identical to existence itself. (modus tollens)
By the law of identity, if something is identical to its essence, and that same thing is identical to existence itself, then that thing’s essence is existence itself.
Therefore, an ONIT’s essence is existence itself (the act of being). (modus ponens)
If a thing is a material substance, then it will have passive potency. (A substance is something that exists in itself and not in another, while maintaining its identity even if it has changing accidental properties.
It’s the core or essential reality underlies all of its attributes and accidental properties. For example, a tree is a material substance, while its color, size and shape are properties or features of that substance.)
An ONIT lacks passive potency since it’s fully actual.
Therefore, an ONIT cannot be a material substance (meaning, it's immaterial, so it lacks a material form and is not a physical or tangible thing). (modus tollens)
If a thing is immaterial and without parts, then it is not spatially extended.
Therefore, an ONIT cannot be spatially extended (meaning, it's spaceless). (modus ponens)
If time is the measure of change between before and after in the same relevant respect, a thing that must necessarily exist and is unchanging does not undergo a measure of time.
Therefore, an ONIT is not temporal (meaning, it's atemporal). (modus ponens)
If existence itself had an inherent limit or could be limited, then that would imply something could exist beyond or outside of existence.
It is not possible for something to exist beyond or outside of existence itself.
Therefore, existence itself has no inherent limit nor could be limited. (modus tollens)
If a thing is identical to existence itself, then it is inherently unlimited.
This means not to be constrained by external limitations, boundaries, or conditions and to be true to itself in every aspect, without external or internal inconsistency. It’s inherent in the sense of not being accidental or contingent but foundational and logically necessary.
Therefore, an ONIT is inherently unlimited. (modus ponens)
If a thing is inherently unlimited, then it does not possess self-limiting attributes (attributes that imply imperfection, dependence or limitation).
For example, to possess self-limiting attributes like being physical (having a specific shape, size or location in space) would be constraining by spatial dimensions, which contradicts the idea of unlimited existence.
Therefore, an ONIT does not possess self-limiting attributes. (modus ponens)
If a thing that is complete in itself, simple and and does not possess any self-limiting attributes, then it is ultimately perfect.
Change or potentiality for change implies imperfection, as it suggests something incomplete or awaiting fulfillment.
Absolute simplicity signifies the absence of any division or imperfection.
An unlimited thing lacks any deficiency or restriction.
Therefore, an ONIT is ultimately perfect. (modus ponens)
If there were multiple ONITs, the distinguishing aspect between or among them would either be ontologically contingent (implying dependence on an external condition) or indication of an inherent incompleteness in each (implying a limitation in each that prevents any one from possessing all aspects of necessary existence).
Either circumstance contradicts the necessary or complete essence of an ONIT.
Therefore, only a single ONIT exists. (modus tollens)
Intellect is the ability to hold or to possess a form without having to become that form.
A form is the principle that gives the substance its specific identity (e.g., humanity for a human being).
A form represents the essence or reality of a thing as it truly is.
If an ONIT is complete and ultimately perfect, it holds all forms inherently.
Therefore, since an unchanging ONIT is complete and does not need to take hold of forms from outside itself, it possesses intellect in the sense of fully holding all forms without becoming them. (modus ponens)
A being that inherently holds all forms does so not by external acquisition but by intrinsic knowledge, which is an immediate and comprehensive awareness of the reality of everything that exists or could exist.
E.g., Omniscience isn’t merely knowing the proposition "The sun exists"; rather, an omniscient entity understands the nature, reality and causal relationships of the sun as it is.)
If a being holds all forms inherently and without external acquisition, then its knowledge is self-contained and direct, a reflection of its own essence.
Set-based thinking, by definition, involves discrete, contingent elements and therefore implies external acquisition or composition.
Therefore, the knowledge of a self-contained and uncomposed ONIT, which holds all forms inherently and without external acquisition, is not set-based but self-knowledge. (modus ponens)
Since passive potentiality would imply the possibility of change or division, an ONIT fully actualized is absolutely simple and unified.
Anything perfectly unified and indivisible cannot contain any elements that could truly be in contradiction with each other.
If an ONIT’s intellect is perfectly unified and logically coherent, then it must be perfectly ordered and consistent with itself.
Therefore, an ONIT’s intellect is perfectly ordered and logically coherent because an ONIT is fully actualized and lacks any passive potency. (modus ponens)
Active potency (the capacity to act upon or bring potential things into effect beyond oneself) is a genus of act that serves as the initiating power responsible for producing an effect external to itself, whereas act is the end state of a potential being actualized.
If a thing with conditional influence (or causal power) lacks any passive potency and is fully actual, then it has unlimited active potency to bring about any logically coherent things.
Therefore, in lacking any passive potency to be acted upon, an ONIT fully actualized has unlimited active potency to bring about any coherent things. (modus ponens)
If a thing with conditional influence (or causal power) has intellect and active potency, then it has a will (the inherent power of a thing with intellect to act as a cause in the relevant respect).
Therefore, an ONIT has a will. (modus ponens)
The concept of freedom means having the ability to act according to one’s will or essence without being coerced by external forces or limitations.
If something has a nature (for instance, a perfect nature), then acting in accordance with that nature reflects the inherent and uncoerced expression of the being’s essence and is not a limitation on its freedom.
Therefore, acting in accordance with one's nature is not a limitation on freedom but an affirmation of the thing’s essence. (modus ponens)
If thing that must exist and cannot not exist, is necessary, uncaused, unchanging, immaterial, spaceless, atemporal, unlimited in ability, ultimately perfect, singularly unique, possesses intellect and will is what people mean by God, then God exists.
God exists. Amen!
Simplified argument
There exists at least one thing with causal power that is not causally dependent (i.e., an uncaused cause) in all metaphysically possible worlds.
An uncaused cause necessarily has attributes such as being unchanging, immaterial, spaceless, atemporal, unlimited in ability, ultimately perfect, singularly unique and possessing intellect and will.
The attributes of an uncaused cause are those used to describe God.
Therefore, such a being, which can be identified as God, exists in all metaphysically possible worlds.
I mostly agree, just replace “god” with “logic”