The logic of essentially ordered causes (Q2534145)

The medieval proof for the existence of God which relies on the notion of essentially ordered causes is examined. The question of regress to infinity -- with extensive use of \textit{Patterson Brown}'s account in ``Infinite causal regression'' [Philos. Rev. 75, No. 4, 510--525 (1966; \url{doi:10.2307/2183226})] -- is given an explication in terms of the formal theory of relations. The ancestral relation plays a major role in this analysis. Formal results lead to suggested interpretations of medieval notions such as `perfection' and `cause'.