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    God is identical to his existence. — Carmelics
    Home/Divine Attributes
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

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    Supports→It is true that God exists in all metaphysically possible worlds, but only because in God essence and existence are the same.

    God is identical to his existence.

    Divine Attributes
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    2 reasons for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.God is identical to each of his attributes.
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    • 2.God is identical to his nature.
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    • 3.God's nature or essence is identical to his existence.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.What makes a contingent being contingent is the real distinction in it between essence and existence.
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    • 2.What makes an absolutely necessary being necessary is the lack of such a distinction between essence and existence.
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    • 3.God has his necessity from himself and not from another.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Existence is not a predicate or property but a logical precondition for having properties, as Kant argues in the Critique of Pure Reason.
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    • 2.If existence is not a genuine attribute, then identifying God with his existence is a category error, not a metaphysical achievement.
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    • 3.The doctrine of divine simplicity requires existence to function as a genuine attribute, which Kantian logic denies it can be.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.Aquinas's real distinction between essence and existence in creatures relies on Avicennian essentialism, which treats essences as intelligible apart from instantiation.
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    • 2.If essences are not mind-independent universals but rather abstractions from particulars, as nominalists like Ockham contend, then the essence-existence distinction dissolves for creatures and cannot anchor the contrast with divine simplicity.
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    • 3.Without a coherent real distinction in creatures, the via negationis that establishes God's identity with his existence loses its comparative foundation.
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    Divine Attributes

    Related

    Aquinas's real distinction between essence and existence in creatures relies on ...Existence is not a predicate or property but a logical precondition for having p...God has his necessity from himself and not from another.God is identical to each of his attributes.
    +10 moreShow less
    God is therefore identical to his nature.God's nature or essence is identical to his existence.If essences are not mind-independent universals but rather abstractions from par...If existence is not a genuine attribute, then identifying God with his existence...It is true that God exists in all metaphysically possible worlds, but only becau...The doctrine of divine simplicity requires existence to function as a genuine at...The lack of a distinction between essence and existence is what makes a necessar...What makes a contingent being contingent is the real distinction in it between e...What makes an absolutely necessary being necessary is the lack of such a distinc...Without a coherent real distinction in creatures, the via negationis that establ...

    Similar

    God's nature or essence is identical to his existence.89%Essence and existence are identical, not distinct.87%God is identical to his nature.87%God is therefore identical to his nature.87%

    Source

    AI-extracted2/3 agreementValid
    SEP: divine-simplicity
    View source passageHide passage
    According to the classical theism of Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas and their adherents, God is radically unlike creatures and cannot be adequately understood in ways appropriate to them. God is simple in that God transcends every form of complexity and composition familiar to the discursive intellect. One consequence is that the simple God lacks parts. This lack is not a deficiency but a positive feature. God is ontologically superior to every partite entity, and his partlessness is an index thereof. Broadly construed, ‘part’ covers not only spatial and temporal parts (if any) but also metaphysic...
    Extraction notes

    Validity: The passage explicitly states that "as identical to each of his attributes, God is identical to his nature" and "since his nature or essence is identical to his existence, God is identical to his existence," which matches the extracted argument's chain of reasoning from premises to conclusion.

    Confidence: Chain of identity claims explicitly laid out in the text.

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    4 (2 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit