Philosophy / Unit 3 Philosophy 0108 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Argument from Contingency
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The idea
The argument from contingency: everything in the universe could have failed to exist; whatever explains why anything exists at all must exist necessarily.
In practice
Leibniz asked the sharpest version: why is there something rather than nothing? A necessary being is his answer.
Where people slip
Critics reply that the universe itself may be the brute fact—an explanation has to stop somewhere.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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