Rational Foundationalism

Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence. Philosophers have used this principle in arguments for the existence of something ontologically fundamental, an ultimate ground of being, such as God. But if everything has an explanation of its existence, so, too, does whatever is fundamental. I analyze what five prominent historical figures—Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz—have said about how a fundamental being, a being that exists a se, is explained. While none are satisfactory, several lessons are drawn from them to construct a novel proposal, which requires a new way of thinking about absolute and relative fundamentality. If what is fundamental is identified with God, certain Scholastic doctrines about the divine nature, such as absolute simplicity, will have to be abandoned—a consequence that I argue is a virtue rather than vice of the proposal.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D., Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctor of Philosophy

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Philosophy

Grantor

Cornell University

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• McIntosh, Chad Alan

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Bennett, Karen
• MacDonald, Scott C.

• Cosmological Argument
• Explanation
• Fundamentality
• Grounding
• Principle of Sufficient Reason

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7298/3ab9-cm91

Dc Identifier Other

ProQuest Submission ID: 11922
ProQuest Publication ID: 27833842

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ecommons.cornell.edu:1813/103015