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    Carmelics

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

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    Made withinDC&Austin
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    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that On a Plantinga-style approach, God cannot be identical to his existence.

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

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.The abstract/concrete distinction is not metaphysically fundamental but rather a pragmatic classificatory scheme that can be revised under theoretical pressure.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Classical theists like Aquinas deny that God's existence is a state of affairs at all—divine esse is not a property instantiated by a subject but the very act of being itself.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If divine existence is not an abstractum but a sui generis act of being, Premise 3's prohibition on concrete-abstract identity does not apply to the God-existence identity claim.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Plantinga's argument presupposes that existence is always a property distinct from its possessor, but necessitarians like van Inwagen and Prior argue that for a necessary being, existence and essence may converge in ways that dissolve the subject-property gap.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If God exists necessarily and essentially, the modal profile of 'God' and the modal profile of 'God's existence' are identical across all possible worlds, undermining the ontological distinctness that Plantinga's argument requires.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.God's existence is presumably a state of affairs, which is an abstract object.
      ?

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    • 2.God is a concretum.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.No concretum can be identical with an abstractum on pain of violating the separateness of the concrete and abstract realms.
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    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.