Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Dr. Dan Linford and I discuss the causal principle, that everything that begins to exist has a cause. We look at William Lane Craig's oft-repeated three reasons for affirming the premise: something cannot come from nothing, if something could come from nothing, then anything and everything should come from nothing, and an inductive generalization supports the causal principle.
Linford's paper discussing neo-Russellian analyses of causation, "Without microphysical causation, not just anything can begin to exist just anywhere": link-springer-com.ezproxy-prd.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/article/10.1007/s13194-025-00683-z
To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal (paypal.com/paypalme/mileskdonahue) or Buy Me a Coffee (buymeacoffee.com/mileskdonahue).
Twitter: twitter.com/PhilosopherMKD
EPISODE CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:58 Different types of "causes"
00:05:49 Premise (1) of the KCA
00:10:19 First argument for CP: An inductive generalization
00:23:56 Metaphysics should be continuous with physics
00:34:27 Is science our only source of knowledge?
00:38:32 Second argument for CP: Something cannot come from nothing
00:42:16 Is neo-Russellianism just too counter-intuitive?
Dr. Dan Linford and I discuss the causal principle, that everything that begins to exist has a cause. We look at William Lane Craig's oft-repeated three reasons for affirming the premise: something cannot come from nothing, if something could come from nothing, then anything and everything should come from nothing, and an inductive generalization supports the causal principle.
Linford's paper discussing neo-Russellian analyses of causation, "Without microphysical causation, not just anything can begin to exist just anywhere": link-springer-com.ezproxy-prd.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/article/10.1007/s13194-025-00683-z
To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal (paypal.com/paypalme/mileskdonahue) or Buy Me a Coffee (buymeacoffee.com/mileskdonahue).
Twitter: twitter.com/PhilosopherMKD
EPISODE CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:58 Different types of "causes"
00:05:49 Premise (1) of the KCA
00:10:19 First argument for CP: An inductive generalization
00:23:56 Metaphysics should be continuous with physics
00:34:27 Is science our only source of knowledge?
00:38:32 Second argument for CP: Something cannot come from nothing
00:42:16 Is neo-Russellianism just too counter-intuitive?
