God's conservation of a quantity of motion is compatible with finite minds initiating motion if God's decree itself constitutes a standing permission for such transfers, as Leibniz's vis viva framework suggests.

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1 reason against

Reasons For

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Reason for

1.God's decree can establish general laws that permit finite agents to transfer motion without requiring constant divine intervention in each act.
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2.Leibniz's vis viva (living force) framework preserves God's ultimate conservation while allowing genuine agent causation within divinely permitted bounds.
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3.Standing permissions avoid occasionalism's problem of denying finite causation while maintaining divine sovereignty over the total system.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against

1.If God's decree merely 'permits' motion transfers, it remains unclear how this differs meaningfully from God actually causing each transfer event.
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2.Leibniz's vis viva framework faces independent objections about energy conservation that undermine its reliability as a model for divine permission.
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3.A 'standing permission' concept requires explaining how permissive decrees bind God's will without being causal acts themselves—a potential logical gap.
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Key Terms

Decree(as used in theology): An official command or decision, especially God's will or commands that establish how the universe operates.
God's conservation(as used in metaphysics and theology): The philosophical idea that God continuously maintains and sustains everything that exists in the universe, moment by moment, rather than creating it once and leaving it alone.
Leibniz: Leibniz is a German philosopher and mathematician from the 1600s-1700s who developed calculus (a powerful math tool for measuring change and areas) independently around the same time as Isaac Newton. He's famous for creating much of the notation we still use in mathematics today and for arguing that everything in the universe follows logical principles. His ideas profoundly influenced modern science, mathematics, and philosophy, making him one of history's most important thinkers.
Standing permission(as used in ethics and theology): An ongoing, general allowance for something to happen, rather than a one-time approval—like a blanket rule that permits certain actions.
finite minds(One of three candidate causes of bodily movement in La Forge's argument): Non-divine mental substances such as human minds, considered as a potential source of causal activity in bodies
framework(Carnap's philosophy of language and logic): A structured system of rules or language that must be in place for rational discourse to be possible.
quantity of motion(Descartes's proposed measure of force): The product of velocity and mass (e.g., 1 m/s × 4 lbs = 4 units)
vis viva(Leibnizian mechanics; the quantity Leibniz argues is conserved): A measure of force calculated as mass times the square of speed (mv2).

Connections

2 topics

Natural Theology1 linked Divine Attributes1 linked

A 'standing permission' concept requires explaining how permissive decrees bind ...Finite human minds are not the source of motion in bodies.

Details

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