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    The First Being has no potentiality for any predicate it ... — Carmelics
    Home/Divine Attributes
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    Supports→The First Being is perfect, with no deficiency or privation.

    The First Being has no potentiality for any predicate it does not already possess by its essence.

    Divine AttributesProof of definition segments
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    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.If the First Being were potentially F, it would depend on something else that is actually F to make it actually F.
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    • 2.That actually-F thing would be prior to the First Being.
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    • 3.Nothing can be prior to the First Being.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Al-Farabi's supporting argument assumes the Aristotelian actuality-potentiality framework, but Duns Scotus argues that God's formal distinctions allow real modal properties without implying real composition or external dependence.
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    • 2.If God formally contains the ratio of possible worlds or unrealized creative acts, this constitutes a genuine potentiality grounded wholly in the divine essence itself, not in any prior being.
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    • 3.The claim that potentiality always requires an external actualizer conflates ontological dependence with logical possibility, a distinction Scotus's formal distinction is precisely designed to preserve.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Aquinas distinguishes active potency (power to act) from passive potency (capacity to receive); the First Being may possess infinite active potency without passive potency.
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    • 2.A being with unlimited active power possesses real potentiality that is not a deficiency, undermining the assumption that all potentiality implies dependence on an external actualizer.
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    Topics

    Divine AttributesProof of definition segments

    Connections

    2 topics

    Causation2 linkedNatural Theology1 linked

    Related

    A being with unlimited active power possesses real potentiality that is not a de...Al-Farabi's supporting argument assumes the Aristotelian actuality-potentiality ...Aquinas distinguishes active potency (power to act) from passive potency (capaci...If God formally contains the ratio of possible worlds or unrealized creative act...
    +4 moreShow less
    If the First Being were potentially F, it would depend on something else that is...Nothing can be prior to the First Being.That actually-F thing would be prior to the First Being.

    Similar

    The First Being has no potentiality for any predicate it does not poss...99%The First has no privation or potentiality86%The First Being has no such potentiality.85%The First Being has no potentiality for any perfection not had by its ...84%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: al-farabi-metaphysics
    View source passageHide passage
    At a first stab: Fârâbî argues that, if something is “first” in the sense that nothing is prior to it, it cannot be dependent on anything for its existence or for its continuation in existence. Therefore it has existed without beginning and will exist without end, and has no potentiality for not existing. It has no efficient cause, but also no material cause: if it had a material cause, its matter would be prior to it, and presumably it would also depend on an efficient cause to turn its matter
    Extraction notes

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

    Details

    The claim that potentiality always requires an external actualizer conflates ont...
    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit