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    Carmelics

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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that If divine simplicity requires God to be identical to His own nature, and natures are abstract property-like entities, then God's mode of existence may be sui generis and not governed by the concrete/abstract distinction that applies to creatures like Socrates.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.If God transcends the concrete/abstract distinction entirely, the claim becomes metaphysically unintelligible—we lack conceptual resources to understand what 'sui generis existence' means.
      ?

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    • 2.Divine simplicity itself relies on the coherence of identity claims (God = His nature), but invoking a special mode of existence to explain this just postpones the problem rather than solving it.
      ?

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    • 3.If God's existence is genuinely sui generis, then the premise that 'natures are abstract' may not apply to God's nature, undermining the initial argument's logical structure.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Creatures depend on essences distinct from their existence, but God's aseity requires identity of essence and existence, establishing categorical difference.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Abstract entities (like numbers) cannot causally act or possess will, yet God causally creates. So God cannot be identical to abstract properties in the ordinary sense.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.The concrete/abstract distinction presupposes mereological composition and temporal dependence—features inapplicable to a necessary, non-composite being.
      ?

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