/lit/ - Literature

>>17796712
Because Aquinas is discussing causality ordered essentially. There cannot be infinite explanations for something when the power of change is dependent on something outside of itself. Just like a logical argument cannot have infinite premises else the conclusion will stand on nothing at all. A loop of efficient causes still has to receive the power of change from something outside itself. Gears ordered in a circle and turning might keep going but it still has to have received the power to turn. That explanation cannot be found in the loop itself or else it's a circular argument.

One quick example I could give is the impossibility of an infinite chain of Christmas lights. The lights must have a power source or else no lights will be lit up.

philosophy is tedious because its constantly philosophers refuting previous philosophers all the way to the greeks.