Everything happens for a reason. — Woo woo
There are no accidents. — Master Oogway
The PSR has enjoyed the favor of philosophers, logicians, and scientists. It's considered rationally legit. Not woo woo, not nonsense. — Agent Smith
And the sufficient reason for the "PSR" is ...? — 180 Proof
The question remains, just one step back: what "sufficient reason" makes this "axiom" indispensable (i.e. necessary), or preferable to any other "axiom"?Axiomatic? — emancipate
And the sufficient reason for the "PSR" is ...? — 180 Proof
Absurdism has also enjoyed the favour of philosophers. Perhaps less though. — emancipate
the meaning of life — Agent Smith
can't compare absurdism to the PSR — Agent Smith
can't compare absurdism to the PSR
— Agent Smith
Opposites of the same coin. — emancipate
Citation needed — emancipate
In the face of evidence to the contrary, we don't have to "assume the PSR". Consider e.g. acausal / random vacuum fluctuations (or radioactive decay) which are fundamental to the "structure" of physical reality. — 180 Proof
Yes. The scope of the "PSR" claim is absolute, and given that most of nature – its fundamental structure (99.9 ...%) – is vacuum, that fact persuades me that the "PSR" is not absolute after all but just an anthropic heuristic (,i.e. useful working assumption). As Hume points out: "causal relations" (i.e. sufficient reasons) are only inferred "habits of association" (inductions) and not observed.So does randomness on the quantum scale negate the PSR? — Real Gone Cat
Expressed differently,
There are no accidents. — Agent Smith
Wrong. The PSR states there is a reason for everything. But what if that reason is an accident? — Philosophim
An accident is meant here as a random event. — Agent Smith
I understand that. Isn't a random event a reason for why something happened? — Philosophim
There are no accidents. — Master Oogway
Not if
There are no accidents.
— Master Oogway — Agent Smith
The PSR has enjoyed the favor of philosophers, logicians, and scientists. It's considered rationally legit. Not woo woo, not nonsense.
Discuss... — Agent Smith
I can only make sense of it as a description of our nature, how we do science/philosophy. We look for reasons (exploitable relationships between entities). Curious George. The assumption that a reason for an event can be found is at least implicit in our looking for patterns in which to include it — jas0n
In other words, justifying the PSR is beside the point. — Agent Smith
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