Assertion: universe | /r/HasProperty | contingent
Facets:
value: logically
type: DEGREE
value: as the totality of contingent things
type: OTHER
value: in could have been other
type: LOCATION
Source sentences:
text: Among these initial facts are that particular beings or events in the universe are causally dependent or contingent, that the universe (as the totality of contingent things) is contingent in that it could have been other than it is, that the Big Conjunctive Contingent Fact possibly has an explanation, or that the universe came into being.
text: But why should we think that the cosmos is contingent?
text: Mackie replies that if God has metaphysical necessity, God’s existence is logically contingent, such that some reason is required for God’s own existence (Mackie 1982: 84).
text: The universe is contingent.
text: Defenders of the view contend that if the components of the universe are contingent, the universe itself is contingent.
text: But if the universe can cease to exist, it is contingent and requires an explanation for its existence (Reichenbach 1972: chap.
text: Rowe (1975: 166) develops a different argument to support the thesis that the universe must be contingent.
text: Hence, it is possible that there are no dependent beings; that is, that the universe is contingent.