Q&A: The Foundations of Your View on the Existence of God
The Foundations of Your View on the Existence of God
Question
Hello.
Something is unclear to me about the foundations of your view on the existence of God, or perhaps I need clarification regarding your words. After all, Kant taught us that the a priori principles—whether geometry and mathematics or causality—are laid out for us by the very structure of our consciousness, but we are limited in our grasp of what reality is in itself (the noumenon). If so, how are you sure that there are laws of nature and that they require a cause? And how are you sure that logic is necessary?
Answer
You do indeed need clarification. Luckily for you, you have a place to get it. First, Kant spoke about the synthetic a priori, not about all a priori knowledge (logic). Second, even regarding the synthetic a priori, in my opinion this is a mistake in the interpretation of Kant (or a mistake by Kant himself). See my columns 494–496, and also column 502.
And regarding the necessity of logic and the relation to contradictions, see columns 549–550.