Download - What attributes does God have?
29th SeptemberDo now – individually give a written response
to the ‘thunk’ questionAim to : 1. define key terms. You can state arange of meanings – but you should chooseone particular meaning as the one youwish to focus on.2. consider (briefly) an argument for and against3. state a conclusion
If I borrow a million pounds, am I a millionaire?
29th SeptemberVocab test part 2
read out your definition(s) to your neighbouromitting any reference to the word itself.
See how many attempts it takes for them to identifythe correct word.
Which terms are hard to define?
29th SeptemberEssays
“Explain and illustrate two key problems with the ideathat sense data are caused by and represent physicalobjects”
Choice of problemUse of key termsClarity of explanation
GOD
What attributes does God have?
GOD
What attributes does God have?
personal omniscient
omnipotent omnibenevolent
eternal
everlasting transcendent
immanent
The Land of knight and knaves
Abercrombie comes across the three inhabitants A, B and CHe asks A “are you a knight or a knave?”A answers indistinctly and Abercrombie cannot understand him.
So he asks B “what did he say?”
B replies “He said he is a knave”
At which point C chips in “don’t believe him: B’s lying!”
Was C a knight or a knave?
Take each attribute and consider what it means to be thisHow would you illustrate it? Describe a superhero’s version of it
Take two attributes and consider whether they may conflict
What attributes does God have?
immutable omniscient
omnipotentomnibenevolent
eternal
everlasting transcendent
immanent
Are any of these beyond the limits of an omnipotent god?
Making a human fly around, by flapping their arms
Are any of these beyond the limits of an omnipotent god?
Making a human fly around, by flapping their armsMaking a human go back in time
Are any of these beyond the limits of an omnipotent god?
Making a human fly around, by flapping their armsMaking a human go back in timeMaking a human go back in time and kill their own parents
Are any of these beyond the limits of an omnipotent god?
Making a human fly around, by flapping their armsMaking a human go back in timeMaking a human go back in time and kill their own parentsMaking a human come back from the dead
Are any of these beyond the limits of an omnipotent god?
Making a human fly around, by flapping their armsMaking a human go back in timeMaking a human go back in time and kill their own parentsMaking a human come back from the deadMaking someone who is both dead and alive
Are any of these beyond the limits of an omnipotent god?
Making a human fly around, by flapping their armsMaking a human go back in timeMaking a human go back in time and kill their own parentsMaking a human come back from the deadMaking someone who is both dead and aliveMaking someone who is both a woman and a man
Are any of these beyond the limits of an omnipotent god?
Making a human fly around, by flapping their armsMaking a human go back in timeMaking a human go back in time and kill their own parentsMaking a human come back from the deadMaking someone who is both dead and aliveMaking someone who is both a woman and a manMaking a rock that is too big to move
Are any of these beyond the limits of an omnipotent god?
Making a human fly around, by flapping their armsMaking a human go back in timeMaking a human go back in time and kill their own parentsMaking a human come back from the deadMaking someone who is both dead and aliveMaking someone who is both a woman and a manMaking a rock that is too big to moveMoving a rock that is too big to move
Are any of these beyond the limits of an omnipotent god?
Making a human fly around, by flapping their armsMaking a human go back in timeMaking a human go back in time and kill their own parentsMaking a human come back from the deadMaking someone who is both dead and aliveMaking someone who is both a woman and a manMaking a rock that is too big to moveMoving a rock that is too big to moveMaking 2 + 2 = 5
For Fridayread and note pages 160 - 164
“In our time”What surprised you?
Prepare to give a brief report on your chosen topic.What was it?What was discussed?What surprised you?
Abercrombie comes across another 3 inhabitants A, B and C
He asks A how many of them are knaves
A answers indistinctly
He asks B what A said and B replies “he said there are exactly two knaves”
At which point C chips in, “don’t believe him. B’s lying”
Is it possible to determine whether C is a knight or knave?
Renaee’s essay
Read itIdentify which paragraphs are in favour of indirect realism (write FOR) and which are against indirect realism (AGAINST)
George MavrodesParadox of the Stone
Can god create a stone that he can’t lift?
YES NOThere is a stone he can’t lift There is something he can’t createLimits to his power Limits to his power
God can lift any stoneHe cannot create a stone he can’t liftBut that is no limit on his creativity
omnipotence
There is evil in the worldEither God chooses to allow it…
in which case he is not omnibenevolentOr is unable to stop it….
in which case he is not omnipotent
The Problem of Evil
Response 1 : this is the best of all possible worlds – it as to have pain in for there to be pleasure
Response 2 : God chose to give humans free-will. This requires them to suffer temptation etc.
Omnipotent : God can do anythingOmnibenevolent : God is supremely good
Can God do evil acts? He could do them but he chooses not to.Evil is a lack of good (like forgetting is a lack of remembering).
So not acting evil (like not forgetting) does not reveal not a lack power
The argument is invalid, unsound – “specious” – misleading argument
OmnipotenceV
omnibenevolence
The Euthyphro dilemma
Is Goodness defined as being ‘whatever god does/wills’ or is it independent of God?
If goodness is defined as being
God is goodOr
Good is God?
God is immutableV
God is omniscient
Abercrombie encounters two inhabitant, A and B
A says “both of us are knaves”
What is A and what is B?
Philosophy assessment70 minutesAnyone miss it?
“In our time”What surprised you?
Prepare to give a brief report on your chosen topic.What was it?What was discussed?What surprised you?
Meanings of the word “free”:
.... as in “free ice cream with every flight”…. as in “sugar-free”…. as in “we are free slaves”.... as in “the land of the free”.... as in “you are free to leave the classroom
whenever you wish”.... as in “I will torture you if you don’t tell me your
accomplice’s name. You tell me, or suffer unendurable pain - you choose”
What is free-will?
Political freedom : lack of constraint (by the law). We are free to travel between countries. North Koreans are not. So we have greater freedom (in this respect)
Metaphysical freedom : the ability to choose. Even in a prison cell you are free to think certain thoughts, you are free to move you middle finger. Or not. When is metaphysical freedom restricted – if you are acting impulsively [in fear, in anger, …]. This is what gives us responsibility for our actions
Freewill and freedom
Abercrombie encounters two inhabitant, A and B
A says “at least one of us are knaves”
What can deduced about A and B?
An argument that we are not free[the argument from predestination]
God is omniscient
He knows everything there is to know
He knows everything everyone has done, or will do
God has effectively ‘seen the video’ of every life
Our life must conform to that video
Our choices are predetermined
We are not (metaphysically) free
We are not responsible for what we do
Blaming us for our actions (Heaven and Hell?) is not fair
Freewill and determinismPhysical determinism
Pierre-Simon Laplace : 1749 – 1827We may regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its past and the cause of its future. An intellect which at a certain moment would know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed, if this intellect were also vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present before its eyes.
A Philosophical Essay on Probabilities
Physical determinism : all events are completely determined (the mechanism of the world decides what will occur next, on all levels) by the preceding events. This is based upon extrapolating what we have found (Newton etc) to everything.
Freewill and determinismList the causes of a simple (?) event:
Woken up by alarm clock Pressed “snooze” without thinkingWoke up againLay there thinking about whether to get up.What are the consequences of just lying here?How bad can they be?Do I care?Pressed snooze againWoke up againTurned off alarmThought “I’m going to get up”Nothing happenedThought “oh my god I have lost control of my limbs”Thought “it’s like the diving bell and the butterfly”Tried to open my eyesThey openedLooked at the ceilingLooked at the ceilingHeard a boat drive pastThought “probably the fuel boys”Turned over and gazed at my phone, pretending I couldn’t understand thenumbersFelt like I was in Waking Life. Am I still in a dream?Decided to throw duvet on the floorDecided to grab duvet and throw it on the floorDecided to just hurl the whole duvet on the floorActually threw duvet on the floorIt’s cold!Got up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veqkUUOlLLE&list=PL07DC99C17C0ADC0E&safe=active
• Homework for Tuesday re-do any questions you got less than 50%
onread and note the Problem of Evil notes
• In Our Time : Philosophy files
