LessonsThe Originator of the World: Necessary Existence, Infinite Regress and the Correspondence ProofQuiz

ضرورة امتناع ترجح أحد طرفي الممكن من غير مرجح
For it is held impossible that one side of a possibility should prevail without a determining factor.

A possible or contingent being is not intrinsically required either to exist or not to exist. Existence and nonexistence are both compatible with its nature. A murajjiḥ is what accounts for the determination of existence rather than nonexistence.

A particular building did not have to exist and came about through causes and activity. The illustration makes contingency intelligible; it does not identify an ordinary material cause with the necessary originator of all beings.

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Possibility and the need for a determiner

The Originator of the World: Necessary Existence, Infinite Regress and the Correspondence Proof

ضرورة امتناع ترجح أحد طرفي الممكن من غير مرجح
For it is held impossible that one side of a possibility should prevail without a determining factor.

A possible or contingent being is not intrinsically required either to exist or not to exist. Existence and nonexistence are both compatible with its nature. A murajjiḥ is what accounts for the determination of existence rather than nonexistence.

A particular building did not have to exist and came about through causes and activity. The illustration makes contingency intelligible; it does not identify an ordinary material cause with the necessary originator of all beings.