Graduation Year
2025
Date of Submission
4-2025
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy
Reader 1
James Kreines
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
2025 Kai S Fine
Abstract
For much of Western history, the prevailing process of creating a proof for the existence of a thing (often suggested to be God) outside the causal chain was done by following that very causal chain. One of the most well known of these theories was created by Avicenna. Through following his classification of objects, one was thought to be able to “prove” the necessity for a thing that was necessary in and of itself, and separate from all other things. In this paper I outline the strongest section of Avicenna’s argument, illustrating his classifications. I then turn to Graham Priest’s work to aid in a recreation of Avicenna’s argument via quiddity. Next, I utilize Buddhist metaphysics to demonstrate an alternative option for the classification and maintenance of the universe, eliminating the validity of Avicenna’s classifications, thereby calling into question the many other forms of his argument given by other figures (such as Thomas Aquinas). I finish with a demonstration of the elusiveness of the category of nothing as demonstrated throughout the piece, and the need for further work on this concept.
Recommended Citation
Fine, Kai, "Nothing Gets in the Way of a Good Argument" (2025). CMC Senior Theses. 3967.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3967
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