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God is the appropriate witness to invoke in an oath — Carmelics

Statements: 321,452
Perspectives: 108,905
Topics: 42

Home/Divine Attributes

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God is the appropriate witness to invoke in an oath

Divine Attributes Natural Theology

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1 reason for

2 reasons against

Reasons For

1 perspective

Reason for

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1.God cannot lie
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2.Nothing is hidden from God
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3.A divine witness overcomes both deficiencies of human witnesses: untruthfulness and lack of knowledge
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Reasons Against

2 perspectives

Reason against 1 of 2

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1.Invoking God as witness presupposes God's existence, making oaths epistemically circular for those who lack justified theistic belief.
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2.An oath's binding force depends on the swearer's genuine belief in the witness, so a contested witness yields no additional normative traction.
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Reason against 2 of 2

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1.Kant argued in the Metaphysics of Morals that swearing by God treats the divine as a juridical instrument, violating the respect owed to God.
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2.If invoking God instrumentally for human legal ends is morally impermissible, then God cannot be the appropriate witness without moral contradiction.
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Topics

Divine Attributes Natural Theology

Connections

2 topics

Against an attribute of God1 linked Truth & Knowledge1 linked

Related

A divine witness overcomes both deficiencies of human witnesses: untruthfulness ...An oath's binding force depends on the swearer's genuine belief in the witness, ...God cannot lie If invoking God instrumentally for human legal ends is morally impermissible, th...

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Invoking God as witness presupposes God's existence, making oaths epistemically ...Kant argued in the Metaphysics of Morals that swearing by God treats the divine ...Nothing is hidden from God

Similar

One kind of oath is a simple contestation of God, as in 'God is my wit...84%There are two distinct kinds of oaths72%These two forms differ in structure: one invokes God as witness, the o...70%When God punishes a lying witness, God acts simultaneously as judge an...68%

Source

AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid

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[O]aths are taken for the purpose of confirmation. Now speculative propositions receive confirmation from reason, which proceeds from principles known naturally and infallibly true. But particular contingent facts regarding man cannot be confirmed by a necessary reason, wherefore propositions regarding such things are wont to be confirmed by witnesses. Now a human witness does not suffice to confirm such matters for two reasons. First, on account of man’s lack of truth, for many give way to lyin

Extraction notes

Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

Details

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