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Queen of Hearts
the teleological family

The Argument from the Frame of the World

Isaac Newton
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Principia)

The Argument from the Frame of the World, card face
DemonstrativeConcludes that something exists.
Argument form
Disjunctive syllogism (laws, mechanical causes, or counsel; the first two eliminated)
Concludes to
Intelligent agent (an intelligent and powerful Being acting by counsel and dominion)
Premise ground
Metaphysical (so regular an arrangement arises from law, mechanism, or counsel — P4 exhaustive)
Modal strength
Actual
What it licenses
  • intelligence (counsel)
  • power
  • providence (dominion)
  • cause of the world (of its frame)
Period
Eighteenth Century (1713, General Scholium)
Tradition
Natural theology (Newtonian)

Further reading

This formulation is ours, composed from the primary source and compressed to fit the card; the argument admits of other statements. Objections have been made to every argument in the deck; where one is linked above, it is chosen by us, not written by us.

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