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Omnipotence and other puzzles

Omnipotence and other puzzles. Michael Lacewing enquiries@alevelphilosophy. co.uk. Definition 1. Omnipotence means ‘all-powerful’; but how should this be understood? The power to do anything Including the logically impossible?. Limits to omnipotence 1: logic.

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Omnipotence and other puzzles

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  1. Omnipotence and other puzzles Michael Lacewing enquiries@alevelphilosophy. co.uk

  2. Definition 1 • Omnipotence means ‘all-powerful’; but how should this be understood? • The power to doanything • Including the logically impossible?

  3. Limits to omnipotence 1: logic • Is logic a limitation on God’s power? • God can’t change logic, not because of a lack of power, but because any description of a logically impossible state of affairs or power is not a description at all

  4. Definition 2a • The power to do whatever it is possible for a perfect being (or the greatest possible being) to do • Maximal power: no being could have more power • When powers are combined, some are excluded - God can’t go jogging, but can create space (a spatial being can’t create space, a non-spatial being can’t go jogging) • Each power is possible on its own, but their combination is not

  5. Definition 2b • The power to do whatever it is possible for a perfect being (or the greatest possible being) to do • Possessing every power it is logically possible to possess • Is going jogging a separate ‘power”? Or is it, instead, an exercise of free will moving a body? God can do this

  6. Limits to omnipotence 2: stone paradox • Can God create a stone so heavy that he can’t lift it? • If yes, he can’t lift it; if no, he can’t create it • ‘The power to create a stone an omnipotent being can’t lift’ is logically incoherent, so it’s not a possible power. • Or: the stone is, by definition, impossible to lift. If God lacks the power to lift a stone it is logically impossible to lift, there is still no power God lacks.

  7. Limits to omnipotence 3: evil • Can God commit evil? If God is all-good, should we say no? • God can commit evil, but always chooses not to • There is no distinct power of ‘committing evil’ because ‘evil’ is not a type of act. • There is no distinct power of ‘committing evil’ because ‘evil’ is simply the absence of good. Evil is failure.

  8. Limits to omnipotence 4 • Could God commit suicide? Not if God exists necessarily, because then God not existing is logically impossible. • Could God make himself non-omnipotent? God cannot make himself not-God, God not being God is logically impossible. • But then can God make a tiger an antelope? He could turn one into the other, but not create an animal that is both a tiger and an antelope at the same time.

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