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    If every being exists precisely insofar as it participate... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Pure perfections are not coextensive with being.

    If every being exists precisely insofar as it participates in perfection, then the extension of being and the extension of perfection necessarily coincide, differing only in degree.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Ontological dependence: all finite beings require participation in transcendent perfection to account for their existence and determinate properties.
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    • 2.Gradation principle: observable degrees of perfection (beauty, power, knowledge) require a single standard by which all things are measured comparatively.
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    • 3.Identity of being and goodness: classical metaphysics identifies ens (being) with bonum (goodness), making perfection constitutive of existence itself.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Entities like stones possess minimal perfection yet undeniable being; extension of being vastly exceeds perfection's intuitive scope and measurable gradations.
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    • 2.Perfection admits no univocal measure across kinds; moral, intellectual, and physical perfection differ categorically, resisting single-axis comparison.
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    • 3.The claim conflates metaphysical existence with normative evaluation; beings exist neutrally independent of whether they exemplify excellence or lack it.
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    Key Terms

    Differing only in degree(in comparative analysis)
    Being the same kind of thing but in different amounts or levels, like how hot and cold are both temperature but at different intensities.
    Necessarily coincide(as used in comparing theories)
    Must always agree with each other in all situations, without exception.
    Participates in(in metaphysical participation theory)
    Takes part in or shares in something; here it means that things have or possess qualities by being connected to a source of those qualities.
    being(Aristotle's rejection of being as a genus)
    The class that contains all and only things that exist; proposed candidate for a highest kind.
    extension(Semantics and philosophy of language)
    Another term for reference, i.e., the object or set of objects a term picks out
    perfection(Sulzer's conception of perfection as involving teleological inner constitution)
    A property of objects that includes purposiveness, such that an object can be perfect through its material, its external form, or its inner constitution as a means to a final end.

    Connections

    2 topics

    Natural Theology1 linkedDivine Attributes1 linked

    Related

    Entities like stones possess minimal perfection yet undeniable being; extension ...Gradation principle: observable degrees of perfection (beauty, power, knowledge)...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    Identity of being and goodness: classical metaphysics identifies ens (being) wit...
    Ontological dependence: all finite beings require participation in transcendent ...
    +3 moreShow less
    Perfection admits no univocal measure across kinds; moral, intellectual, and phy...Pure perfections are not coextensive with being.The claim conflates metaphysical existence with normative evaluation; beings exi...