Comment by Oink_Bang on 01/02/2025 at 22:41 UTC

11 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)

View submission: The Principle of Sufficient Reason is Self-Evident and its Criticisms are Self-Defeating (a case for the PSR being the fourth law of logic)

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Those who reject the PSR could only do so by accepting the PSR, as any reason-based argument against it would implicitly rely on the need for sufficient reasons.

Why can't I simply reject it without giving a reason based argument, or any argument at all?

If I do decide to offer an argument against it - say because an interlocutor wants convincing - doesn't this merely show that I recognize the possibility of reasons, not their necessity? If reasons exist for this one truth it does not follow that reasons exist for other truths - not unless we can be sure there is nothing at all special about our chosen case, and it seems clear that this condition is not met here.

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Comment by contractualist at 01/02/2025 at 22:51 UTC

2 upvotes, 2 direct replies

Sure, but then rejecting the PSR would be purely arbitrary if you don’t have a reason to justify it.