Branching actualism and cosmological arguments.
We draw out significant consequences of a relatively popular theory of metaphysical modality—branching actualism—for cosmological arguments for God's existence. According to branching actualism, every possible world shares an initial history with the actual world and diverges only because causal pow...
| Publicado en: | Philosophical Studies Vol. 180; no. 7; pp. 1951 - 1974 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Springer Nature
Jul2023
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| Sumario: | We draw out significant consequences of a relatively popular theory of metaphysical modality—branching actualism—for cosmological arguments for God's existence. According to branching actualism, every possible world shares an initial history with the actual world and diverges only because causal powers (or dispositions, or some such) are differentially exercised. We argue that branching actualism undergirds successful responses to two recent cosmological arguments: the Grim Reaper Kalam argument and a modal argument from contingency. We also argue that branching actualism affords a response to one popular defense of the classic contingency argument. What results are new difficulties for several cosmological arguments arising from the metaphysics of modality. |
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