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Philosophy p2 > the concept of god > Flashcards

the concept of god Flashcards

1
Q

what are gods divine attributes

A

-omnipotence
-omniscience
-omnibenevolence
-eternal/everlasting

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2
Q

define omnipotence

A

-god is all powerful and can do anything logically possible. there is no being more powerful
-e.g. he cannot make a 4 sided triangle as its logically impossible

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3
Q

define omniscience

A

-god it all knowing and knows everything it is possible to know
-god doesn’t know the future as its impossible to know.

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4
Q

define omnibenevolence

A

-god is all loving and perfectly good
-god always does what’s morally good

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5
Q

define everlasting

A

-god exists within time
-he was there at the beginning of time and will continue to exist forever

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6
Q

define eternal

A

-god exists outside of time
-he has no beginning or end

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7
Q

who discussed gods eternal relationship with time

A

Boethius, Stump and Kretzmann

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8
Q

what 2 types of simultaneity did Stump and Kretzmann identify

A

1) T-simultaneity
2) E-simultaneity

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9
Q

define T-simultaneity

A

-applies within time (temporal beings), like humans
-humans can perceive 2 things happen simultaneously in the present only

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10
Q

define E-simultaneity

A

-applies outside of time (atemporal beings)
-god can perceive multiple things happening simultaneously at all times
-from eternal perspective, he can see past present and future
-e.g. can perceive you on your 7th bday and 17th at the same time

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11
Q

define the paradox of the stone

A

-if god is omnipotent, can he create a stone so heavy he cannot lift
-if he cant then he’s not powerful enough to create this stone
-if he can then he’s not powerful enough to lift the stone
-either way there is something god cannot do meaning he is not omnipotent

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12
Q

what does the paradox of the stone argue

A

argues the concept of an omnipotent god is self contradicting

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13
Q

who responds to the paradox of the stone

A

Mavrodes

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14
Q

what does Mavrodes argue

A

-‘a stone an omnipotent being cannot lift’ is a contradiction
-its not a real limitation of gods power as it is not logically possible.

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15
Q

who comes up with the euthyphro dilemma

A

Plato

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16
Q

what does the euthyphro dilemma discuss

A

-whether morality is created by or is independent of god.
-challenges the concept of god

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17
Q

what does the euthyphro dilemma discuss when applied to moral judgements

A

-when applied to moral judgements ‘torturing babies is wrong’ we can ask
1)is torturing babies wrong because god says its wrong
2)or, does god command ‘don’t torture babies’ because it is wrong
-in other words, does god create morality or does god just follow morality

18
Q

what happens if 2 is the case (morality is something independent of god)

A

-challenges gods omnipotence
-gods power would be limited by morality
-god only follows the rules of morality, he cant change them
e.g. god would not be powerful enough to make ‘torturing babies is good’ true

19
Q

what happens if 1 is the case (god created morality)

A

-challenged gods omnibenevolence
-argument can be made in 2 ways:
1) if god makes morality then morality is arbitrary
2) if god created morality then ‘god is good’ is a tautology

20
Q

define argument 1 (if god makes morality then morality is arbitrary)

A

-if god created morality, then god could have said ‘torturing babies is good’ or whatever rule he wanted and it would be true.
-there is no real reason why god should say things are good because whatever god says is good would be good.
-in other words, if god creates morality then morality is arbitrary (without reason)

21
Q

define argument 2 (if god creates morality then ‘god is good’ is a tautology

A

-says the same thing twice
-if what is good is just whatever god says is good, then ‘god is good’ says nothing meaningful about god because it would be like saying ‘good is good’ or ‘god says what god says’
-causes it to be meaningless

22
Q

what does the euthyphro dilemma conclude

A

-drives wedge between ‘god is omnipotent and omnibenevolent’
-we don’t want to undermine gods omnipotence but if we claim god creates morality, then its hard to make sense of the claim that god is omnibenevolent
-either god is not omnipotent or ‘god is omnibenevolent’ is meaningless

23
Q

what are 2 responses to the euthyphro dilemma

A

1) accepting that god creates morality, but rejecting the claim that morality is arbitrary
2) rejecting the claim that ‘god is good’ is a tautology

24
Q

define response 1 to the euthyphro dilemma

A

-accepting that god creates morality (still omnipotent) but rejecting the claim that this makes morality arbitrary by arguing morality is based on other factors

25
Q

wha’ts an example of other factors

A

-love
-god didn’t just command ‘torturing babies is wrong’ for no reason, he did it because he loves us and doesn’t want to see us suffer.

26
Q

how does love respond to the euthyphro dilemma

A

-god is powerful enough to make ‘torturing babies is good’ true, but doesn’t for a reason
-he chose the rule ‘torturing babies is bad’ instead due to his love for humanity not without reason.
-this preserves the claim that god is omnibenevolent without making the definition ‘good’ or ‘omnibenevolence’ arbitrary.

27
Q

define response 2 to the euthyphro dilemma

A

-we can reject the claim ‘god is good’ becomes a tautology if god creates morality by arguing that ‘gods will’ and ‘good’ are different concepts for the same thing.

28
Q

what’s and example of response 2

A

-water and h20
-water and h20 refer to the same thing but ‘water is h20’ isn’t a tautology because ‘water’ and ‘h20’ are 2 different concepts
-its possible you know what water is without knowing what h20 is
-would thus be a discovery to learn that water is h20

29
Q

how does the water and h20 example apply to god

A

-we can say ‘good’ and ‘gods will’ are 2 different concepts for the same thing
- we can understand them separately of each other
-it is then a discovery to learn that ‘gods will is good’ in the same way it is a discovery to learn ‘water is h20’

30
Q

define omniscience vs free will

A

-if god is omniscient, he knows everything. but if god knows everything then he must know what we are going to do before we do it
-if god knows what I am going to do before I do it then it not possible for me to do anything else
-therefore I have no free will

31
Q

what’s an example of omniscience vs free will

A

p1-god knows I’m going to the fridge to get a beer
p2-if god already knows I’m going to the fridge to get a beer before I do it, then it must be true that I go to the fridge to get a beer
p3-if it’s true that I go to the fridge to get a beer, then it cant be false that I go to the fridge to get a beer
c-in other words, I don’t have a choice (no free will)

32
Q

what does omniscience vs free will conclude

A

-either god is omniscient but we don’t have free will
-or we have free will but god is not omniscient

33
Q

define a response to omniscience vs free will not undermining gods omniscience

A

-gods omniscience is knowing everything that is possible to know
-as free will makes it impossible to know the future, it doesn’t undermine gods omniscience (knowing everything that is possible to know)
-only works if god is everlasting, not eternal as if he was eternal he was outside of time and would know the future.

34
Q

define a response to omniscience vs free will from the perspective of an eternal god

A

-observation response
-what we call tomorrow is visible to him in the same way now is to us
-gods knowledge of the future is similar to ours of the present

35
Q

what’s an example of omniscience vs free will from the perspective of an eternal god

A

-e.g. you observe someone choosing a bottle of wine at a supermarket, you wouldn’t take that as evidence that this person lacks free will

36
Q

how does the supermarket example apply to god

A

-the fact that god is observing what I am doing right now clearly doesn’t prove I lack free will
-god could just be observing me freely choose my actions
-as god perceives all moments in time simultaneously, he observes me freely choosing my actions right now.
-if god is eternal, he is constantly observing the future, this does not mean we lack free will as he is just observing.

37
Q

define the molinism response

A

-the view that god has counterfactual ‘middle knowledge’ of all possible worlds
-means god knows what would happen if something were the case

38
Q

what do molinists argue

A
  • gods middle knowledge played an important role in why he created our world the way it is
    -he surveyed all possible worlds and decided based on every possible counterfactual outcome, to make this particular world
39
Q

how does molinists view apply to god and free will

A

-god may counterfactually know what I am going to do next
-but gods knowledge is not factual, its counterfactual so technically I’m free to do otherwise, even though I wont.

40
Q

is the concept of god coherent (25 mark plan)

A

p1-intro
-concept of god IS coherent
-define key terms
p2-argument 1
-paradox of the stone
p3-response 1
-Mavrodes: it’s a contradiction
p4-argument 2
-euthyphro dilemma
p5-response 2
-god is omnipotent and omnibenevolent
p6-argument 3
-free will vs omniscience
p7-response 3
-observation
p8-conclusion
-morality doesn’t contradict gods omnipotence or omnibenevolence
-humans have free will doesn’t contradict gods omniscience
-therefore, the concept of god IS coherent

Philosophy p2 (11 decks)

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