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    Aquinas's doctrine of divine simplicity holds that God kn... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Omniscience is not possible.

    Aquinas's doctrine of divine simplicity holds that God knows all things through a single, identical act of self-knowledge, bypassing any requirement for a totality-set.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.A composite God with distinct knowledge-acts would depend on parts, making God dependent on composition rather than absolutely necessary.
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    • 2.Self-knowledge is God's most perfect cognition; other knowledge derives from understanding His own infinite essence and possibilities.
      ?

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    • 3.Divine simplicity avoids the regress problem: without it, God's knowledge of knowledge requires further knowledge ad infinitum.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.A single act cannot intelligibly grasp logically distinct truths (God knows both that A is true and that not-A is false) simultaneously.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If God's knowledge is purely self-referential, it's unclear how it extends to contingent facts about creatures independent of God's will.
      ?

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    • 3.Divine simplicity makes God's omniscience appear to conflate knowing-that with mere logical necessity, losing explanatory power.
      ?

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    Key Terms

    knowledge(Distinguished from mere true belief, which may be the product of indoctrination and need not exercise deliberative capacities.)
    Justified true belief — true belief that has been arrived at through the exercise of deliberative capacities, including comparison of and deliberation among alternatives.

    Connections

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    Divine Attributes1 linked

    Related

    A composite God with distinct knowledge-acts would depend on parts, making God d...A single act cannot intelligibly grasp logically distinct truths (God knows both...Divine simplicity avoids the regress problem: without it, God's knowledge of kno...Divine simplicity makes God's omniscience appear to conflate knowing-that with m...
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    If God's knowledge is purely self-referential, it's unclear how it extends to co...Omniscience is not possible.Self-knowledge is God's most perfect cognition; other knowledge derives from und...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit