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    Flint and Freddoso's account of omnipotence does not prov... — Carmelics
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    Flint and Freddoso's account of omnipotence does not provide a logically necessary condition on omnipotence.

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    Reasons For

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    • 1.A non-omnipotent agent can actualize (e)—bringing it about that a snowflake falls when no omnipotent agent ever exists—but an omnipotent agent cannot actualize (e), since an omnipotent agent cannot bring it about that no omnipotent agent ever exists.
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    • 2.There are possible worlds W and W* sharing the same history up to time t, where no omnipotent agent ever exists in W*, and a contingently omnipotent agent Oscar is omnipotent for the first time at t in W.
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    • 3.In W*, at t some non-omnipotent agent actualizes (e), but in W, Oscar at t cannot actualize (e).
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Flint and Freddoso's account is intended as a sufficient condition for omnipotence, not a necessary one, so the counterexample attacks a burden of proof the account never assumed.
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    • 2.A definition can be theoretically adequate by specifying what suffices for omnipotence without also capturing every necessary condition, as Aquinas's power-based accounts similarly proceed.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.The world-type framework individuates an agent's power relative to histories, so Oscar's world-type in W already encodes his omnipotence, making (e) properly excluded rather than an overlooked lacuna.
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    • 2.If the world-type-for-Oscar in W reflects Oscar's omnipotence at t, then (e) belongs to no achievable extension of that type, and Flint and Freddoso's account correctly withholds the power rather than mistakenly attributing it.
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    Related

    A definition can be theoretically adequate by specifying what suffices for omnip...A non-omnipotent agent can actualize (e)—bringing it about that a snowflake fall...Flint and Freddoso's account is intended as a sufficient condition for omnipoten...Flint and Freddoso's account of omnipotence implies that in W, at t, Oscar has t...
    +5 moreShow less
    If the world-type-for-Oscar in W reflects Oscar's omnipotence at t, then (e) bel...In W*, at t some non-omnipotent agent actualizes (e), but in W, Oscar at t canno...The world-type framework individuates an agent's power relative to histories, so...There are possible worlds W and W* sharing the same history up to time t, where ...Therefore, Flint and Freddoso's account requires that Oscar has a power he in fa...

    Similar

    Therefore, neither x nor y would be omnipotent, contradicting the assu...85%God qualifies as omnipotent even though God cannot do evil things83%What some interpret as a constraint on omnipotence is in fact a demons...83%Flint and Freddoso's account of omnipotence implies that in W, at t, O...83%

    Source

    AI-extracted
    SEP: omnipotence
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    Moreover, it can be argued that a state of affairs discussed earlier provides a counter-example to Flint and Freddoso’s account of omnipotence, namely:

    Details

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    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit