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    Omnipotence should be analyzed in terms of the power to b... — Carmelics
    Home/Divine Attributes
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Omnipotence should be analyzed in terms of the power to bring about certain possible states of affairs, understood as propositional entities which either obtain or fail to obtain.

    Divine Attributes
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    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • This approach can yield an adequate analysis of omnipotence.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Propositional states of affairs cannot capture agent-relative powers, such as the power to freely choose, which require a willing subject.
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    • 2.Omnipotence historically concerns God's active causal power (potentia Dei absoluta), not merely the obtaining of abstract propositional states.
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    • 3.Reducing divine power to propositional entailment collapses the distinction between God actualizing a state and that state obtaining by necessity.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Aquinas and the scholastic tradition define omnipotence through the ratio of active power, not correspondence to possible worlds or propositions.
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    • 2.If omnipotence is defined by possible states of affairs, then a being that passively enables all such states counts as omnipotent, which is absurd.
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    Related

    Aquinas and the scholastic tradition define omnipotence through the ratio of act...If omnipotence is defined by possible states of affairs, then a being that passi...Omnipotence historically concerns God's active causal power (potentia Dei absolu...Propositional states of affairs cannot capture agent-relative powers, such as th...
    +2 moreShow less
    Reducing divine power to propositional entailment collapses the distinction betw...This approach can yield an adequate analysis of omnipotence.

    Similar

    Omnipotence cannot be analyzed simply as the power to bring about any ...83%There can be contingent states of affairs that an omnipotent agent is ...77%If an agent has the power to bring about a state of affairs, then it i...77%Divine omnipotence can be characterized as God's ability to bring abou...75%

    Source

    AI-extracted2/3 agreementValid
    SEP: omnipotence
    View source passageHide passage
    According to some philosophers, omnipotence should be understood in terms of the power to perform certain tasks, for instance, to kill oneself, to make \(2+2=4\), or to make oneself non-omniscient. However, in recent philosophical discussion, omnipotence has been analyzed in terms of the power to bring about certain possible states of affairs, understood as propositional entities which either obtain or fail to obtain (Rosenkrantz & Hoffman 1980; Flint & Freddoso 1983; and Wierenga 1989). Because we believe that it can yield an adequate analysis of omnipotence, we take this latter appro...
    Extraction notes

    Validity: The passage explicitly states "Because we believe that it can yield an adequate analysis of omnipotence, we take this latter approach," which directly matches the extracted argument's premise supporting the conclusion about analyzing omnipotence in terms of possible states of affairs.

    Confidence: Moderate confidence. The authors explicitly state their reason ('because we believe that it can yield an adequate analysis') for adopting this approach over the task-based alternative.

    Details

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