Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    If we attribute wisdom to a being sufficient to plan the ... — Carmelics
    Home/Divine Attributes
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    If we attribute wisdom to a being sufficient to plan the creation of the world, we must also attribute to that being the power sufficient to execute that plan.

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

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.In cases of planned conduct by persons, the attribution of wisdom to form a plan goes hand-in-hand with the attribution of power to execute it.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.When a person builds a house, the person who formed the plan is assumed to have had the power to bring the plan to fruition.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If someone was wise enough to plan the order found in nature, then by the same principle we must also judge that person powerful enough to create it.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.The analogy between human builders and a divine creator breaks down because human planners operate within pre-existing causal structures that constrain both plan and execution.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.A being might possess sufficient intelligence to conceive an optimal cosmic order while lacking the ontological power to actualize it from nothing, as Plato's Demiurge in the Timaeus is limited by the recalcitrance of pre-existing matter.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Therefore, wisdom sufficient to plan creation does not entail omnipotent power, but only power sufficient to work within or upon some prior substrate.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion establishes that inferences about an artisan's capacities are properly constrained by the observed quality of the artifact alone.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.The observed universe contains significant disorder, suffering, and apparent design failures that, on analogical reasoning, license only modest attributions of power to its cause.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.An inference from 'wise enough to plan' to 'powerful enough to execute' illicitly assumes the plan was perfectly executed, which is precisely what the evidence of natural evil and imperfection calls into question.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Divine AttributesNatural Theology

    Related

    A being might possess sufficient intelligence to conceive an optimal cosmic orde...An inference from 'wise enough to plan' to 'powerful enough to execute' illicitl...Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion establishes that inferences about a...If someone was wise enough to plan the order found in nature, then by the same p...
    +5 moreShow less
    In cases of planned conduct by persons, the attribution of wisdom to form a plan...The analogy between human builders and a divine creator breaks down because huma...The observed universe contains significant disorder, suffering, and apparent des...Therefore, wisdom sufficient to plan creation does not entail omnipotent power, ...When a person builds a house, the person who formed the plan is assumed to have ...

    Similar

    The hand-in-hand attribution of wisdom and power means that conceding ...83%In cases of planned conduct by persons, the attribution of wisdom to f...78%Leibniz held that God's will is determined by infinite wisdom and good...76%If someone was wise enough to plan the order found in nature, then by ...76%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: reid
    View source passageHide passage
    This is a powerful objection, but it is not the end of the debate. Notice that someone who rejects the argument from design is likely to think both that there is no efficient cause of the complex order which we encounter in nature, and that nobody planned the order that we find. But there is no doubt that when a person, say, builds a house that there was somebody who formed the plan to build the house. The question is whether or not that person must have had the power to build it in order to bri
    Extraction notes

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

    Details

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