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    The prime task for the philosophical theist is to demonst... — Carmelics
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    Home/Natural Theology
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The prime task for the philosophical theist is to demonstrate that God is not impossible.

    Natural 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.God's existence is either impossible or necessary — there is no middle ground of contingent divine existence.
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    • 2.If God's existence is possible, it follows necessarily that God exists.
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    • 3.Therefore, establishing that God's existence is not impossible is sufficient to establish that God exists necessarily.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Modal status of propositions depends on the logical framework adopted, and S5 modal logic—which licenses the move from possibility to necessity for necessary beings—is not the uniquely correct system.
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    • 2.Without independent justification for S5 over weaker systems like S4 or B, Hartshorne's ontological argument begs the question by embedding the controversial inference in its modal assumptions.
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    • 3.The prime task is therefore not merely showing God is possible, but justifying the modal logic that makes possibility sufficient for necessity.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.The claim that divine existence is either impossible or necessary relies on a prior conceptual stipulation that God is a necessarily existent being, which is itself substantively contested.
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    • 2.Philosophers including Kant and more recently Peter van Inwagen argue that existence is not a genuine predicate or perfection, undermining the coherence of 'necessary existence' as a concept.
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    • 3.If 'necessary existence' is not a coherent property, the dichotomy between impossibility and necessity collapses, and demonstrating non-impossibility proves nothing about actual existence.
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    Topics

    Natural Theology

    Connections

    1 topic

    Modality & Possibility3 linked

    Related

    God's existence is either impossible or necessary — there is no middle ground of...If 'necessary existence' is not a coherent property, the dichotomy between impos...If God's existence is possible, it follows necessarily that God exists.Modal status of propositions depends on the logical framework adopted, and S5 mo...
    +5 moreShow less
    Philosophers including Kant and more recently Peter van Inwagen argue that exist...The claim that divine existence is either impossible or necessary relies on a pr...The prime task is therefore not merely showing God is possible, but justifying t...Therefore, establishing that God's existence is not impossible is sufficient to ...Without independent justification for S5 over weaker systems like S4 or B, Harts...

    Similar

    Therefore, establishing that God's existence is not impossible is suff...79%Reason alone cannot get us all the way to perfect theism.77%God is really possible (i.e., God's existence involves no contradictio...76%The claim that a good argument for atheism is impossible is false.76%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: hartshorne
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    On Hartshorne’s view, metaphysics does not deal with realities beyond the physical, but rather with those features of reality that are ubiquitous or that would exist in any possible world. And he does not think that it is possible to think of a preeminent being that existed only contingently since if it did exist contingently rather than necessarily, it would not be preeminent. That is, God’s existence is either impossible (positivism) or possible, and, if possible, then necessary (theism). He i
    Extraction notes

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

    Details

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