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    Aquinas himself distinguishes God's intellect, will, and ... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→God is free of matter-form composition, potency-act composition, and existence-essence composition.

    Aquinas himself distinguishes God's intellect, will, and power as conceptually distinct attributes with different formal objects.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Aquinas's Summa explicitly treats intellect, will, and power separately with distinct formal objects, demonstrating his systematic philosophical method.
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    • 2.Conceptual distinction preserves divine simplicity while allowing theological language about God's different perfections to remain meaningful and non-redundant.
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    • 3.Medieval philosophy required distinguishing real operations (knowing, willing, acting) that appear distinct in creation to avoid anthropomorphic confusion about God.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.If God is truly simple, any 'conceptual distinction' risks being merely linguistic convention rather than reflecting genuine metaphysical reality in God.
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    • 2.Aquinas's own commitment to divine simplicity logically entails that intellect, will, and power are identical in God, making 'distinct attributes' incoherent.
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    • 3.The distinction may smuggle in implicit compositional structure that undermines rather than preserves the doctrine of divine simplicity.
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    Divine Attributes1 linked

    Related

    Aquinas's Summa explicitly treats intellect, will, and power separately with dis...Aquinas's own commitment to divine simplicity logically entails that intellect, ...Conceptual distinction preserves divine simplicity while allowing theological la...God is free of matter-form composition, potency-act composition, and existence-e...
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    If God is truly simple, any 'conceptual distinction' risks being merely linguist...Medieval philosophy required distinguishing real operations (knowing, willing, a...The distinction may smuggle in implicit compositional structure that undermines ...

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    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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