The first cause cannot be an abstraction
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This argument is used in the debate Does God exist?.
This argument is an objection to There's no reason why God should be the first cause..
Summary[ edit ]
Quotes[ edit ]
“What's the basis for asserting that the first cause is a spirit? Answer: from the moment we recognize that this being must be without parts and devoid of any quantitative determination (and this is necessary), we don't have much choice. There aren't thirty-six kinds of immaterial beings. In fact, there are only two. It can be 1) an abstraction (a logical law, a mathematical ideality), 2) a spirit, the second type of immaterial being commonly accepted. But an abstraction - assuming it can subsist on its own without an understanding to think it, which is highly doubtful - has no productive power. It's the 15 players in the French team who win the match, not the number 15, so it can only be a mind.”
Frédéric Guillaud, God exists, p.155, Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 2013.
