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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   41990 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 8, 2025

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Then if the theist's arguments are that the world resembles the line of robots, then their argument does not hinge on the impossibility of infinity. They might be wrong that the world resembles the line of robots, but that puts the objection somewhere else.

By saying "If there is an infinite line of robots that all have an initial condition" you have introduced finiteness as an assumption, what classical theism does with this type of arguments is attempt to prove that this finiteness is logically necessary. The reason this worked in the past, but doesn't now, is because actual infinities were believed to be paradoxical.

What is finite here? The number of robots and the lenght of time can all be infinite. You are objecting to "initial condition?" It is a rough analogy to the concept that no part of the universe has within itself the ability to cause itself.

What is finite here? The number of robots and the lenght of time can all be infinite. You are objecting to "initial condition?"

Correct, you are implying that there is a beginning and the past isn't infinite.

I could express it as -infinity < t < infinity; robot hands = down.

Ok, now formulate the rest of the argument using this definition of initial condition.

Ok.

From -infinity to t, infinite robots have their hands down. We are an observer at time t. All infinite robots have hands down. Looking at the robot code, we see that they are only programed to raise their hands if a robot next to them raises their hands. We can deduce that no robots will raise their hands from t to +infinity.

Ok, how do you make an argument for the existence of god from this.

I'm not going to make a comprehensive argument for the existence of God, any suitable argument would be at least chapter-length. You brought up Feser earlier, I wonder what you've read of him. Five Proofs of the Existence of God provides five chapter-length proofs. If you've only read The Last Superstition or even his beginners guide to Aquinas I don't think you've seen the best he can do.

As far as what relation the robots have to a proof of God, the analogy is this:

  • The robots with their hands down express now everything we see does not exist necessarily.

  • That the robots are programmed to raise their hands if one next to them raises theirs reflects how contingent things derive their existence from another contingent thing.

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