"If it happens that non-existence precedes it, then the thing comes into being, but if it does not happen that [non-existence precedes it], then it does not come into being, [even though it is caused]."
- Avicenna, The Healing, Metaphysics, 6th Treatise, I
4 comments:
Tell it to Schroedinger's cat.
Cause! Cause! Where the bejeebers does that come from?
Before you open the box the cat is neither alive nor dead, and afterwards it is one of them, although there's no knowing which in advance. Afterwards it seems Avicenna would have us say we caused the cat to die or survive, though we did neither (rather the behavior of the radioactive atom in the box decided the outcome). I think this is God & dice business that Einstein famously kvetched about as he bet against quantum mechanics surviving the test of time. He saw it as doing away with causality, tenured professors say.
Or if not the cat then talk to this guy:
http://www.eequalsmcsquared.auckland.ac.nz/sites/emc2/tl/philosophy/dice.cfm
I paid no more attention to this stuff than I'd need to prevent a dinner conversation from stalling, and see it finally came in handy. I expect full marks.
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