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..
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
Quotes
“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.
