The Great Chain of Being

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1. The top of the chain represents perfection in the highest degree. Most believers in the chain call this God.

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2. The chain in its entirety represents all degrees of perfection from the highest and fullest to the lowest and least; it is complete.
Spinoza, Ethics, all possibilities are actualities: 43.7 (I.16 cor.1), 56.2 (I.33 sch.2), 56.8 (I.35), 62.5 (App. to Part I), 66.9 (II.7 cor)
Leibniz, Discourse 3.

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3. Hence the universe would not be complete if the chain did not extend all the way to the bottom or if it had gaps in it.

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4. The universe is more perfect (in the sense that it is more complete) if all degrees of perfection are represented in it than if only the highest is represented.

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Peter Suber

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Is this what you mean? If so, this is an intelligent design type of theory, not evolution.For those interested.... http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/courses/re/chain.htm

Actually, it was this Chain of Being idea which got muddled into the theory of natural selection to create the idea of Social Darwinism, which in turn was used to justify the superiority of white folk, which in turn was used to justify conquest, theft, slavery, murder and other such indicators of the higher races.------------------
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[QUOTE][b]Originally posted by Andya Primanda:
Social Darwinism... maybe the philosophical folks (Nietzsche, etc.) are the real hijackers of ToE?
[b][/QUOTE]OK. Off topic really but lets not pick on Nietzsche. He hated the Fascism with which he has become nearly universally associated as well as the Social Darwinism beneath the "master race" idea. Nietzsche's superman was the idea of an individual surpassing himself. It isn't a biological concept at all. Nietzshe defined the idea as something more like "the ever-overcoming man."'k... I'll shut-up now.Take care.------------------
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Originally posted by Brad McFall:
Fine can I Pick up on Philosphers of the 1920s that Wrote in Nietsche as one of the four Guys kant picks apart to ground the metaphysics of morals.

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Sure. I love this sort of debate, but maybe not on this forum.Can I pick on Kant as the guy who said we can't ever ever ever know anything about the true nature of existence and about how this is an ad hoc argument to get around all the trouble that Hume fellow was causing at the time?------------------
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