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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Aquinas himself distinguishes God's intellect, will, and power as conceptually distinct attributes with different formal objects.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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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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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 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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