Ross and Scotus on the Existence of God: Two Proofs from Possibility
Thomist 54 (1):97-114 (1990)
| Abstract | In his Philosophical Theology James Ross claims to have uncovered an assumption essential to the proof of God's existence advanced by Duns Scotus: the equivalence of logical and real possibility. Ross argues that the omission is reparable, and that Scotus's proof is ultimately satisfactory. In this paper I examine his claim and determine that while Scotus may have believed there to be a significant connection between these two concepts, his proof of God does not depend on it. Ross's attempt to rework the Scotist demonstration merits consideration on its own terms, however. In calling attention to the relation between real and metaphysical possibility, Ross has hit on a way of circumventing one of the major impediments to the acceptability of Scotus's original proof: the infinite regress of causes. Since Scotus argues against the possibility of the infinite regress in copious detail, we must wonder whether he could have countenanced the alternate route suggested by Ross. While I shall argue that indeed Ross's gambit is flawed in a way that Scotus may have foreseen, his proof nevertheless deserves recognition as an original and noteworthy contribution to the literature. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,631 |
| External links | This entry has no external links. Add one. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesTobias Hoffmann (2009). Duns Scotus on the Origin of the Possibles in the Divine Intellect. In Stephen F. Brown, Thomas Dewender & Theo Kobusch (eds.), Philosophical Debates at Paris in the Early Fourteenth Century. Brill.
Richard Cross (2012). Duns Scotus and Analogy. The Modern Schoolman 89 (3-4):147-154.
Stephen D. Dumont (1992). Transcendental Being: Scotus and Scotists. Topoi 11 (2):135-148.
Eike-Henner W. Kluge (2008). Scotus on Accidental and Essential Causes. Franciscan Studies 66:233 - 246.
Giorgio Pini (2012). Scotus on Hell. The Modern Schoolman 89 (3-4):223-241.
Michael R. Baumer (1980). Possible Worlds and Duns Scotus' Proof for the Existence of God. The New Scholasticism 54 (2):182-188.
Tobias Hoffmann (2011). Henry of Ghent's Influence on John Duns Scotus's Metaphysics. In Gordon A. Wilson (ed.), The Brill Companion to Henry of Ghent. Brill.
David Twetten (2006). On Which 'God' Should Be the Target of a 'Proof of God's Existence'. The Proceedings of the Twenty-First World Congress of Philosophy 8:75-80.
Richard Cross (1998). The Physics of Duns Scotus: The Scientific Context of a Theological Vision. Clarendon Press.
Timothy O'Connor (1995). From First Efficient Cause to God: Scotus on the Identification Stage of the Cosmological Argument. In L. Honnefelder, R. Wood & M. Dreyer (eds.), John Duns Scotus: Metaphysics and Ethics. E.J.Brill.
Richard Cross (2010). Recent Work on the Philosophy of Duns Scotus. Philosophy Compass 5 (8):667-675.
John Duns Scotus (2008). First Principle. Revelation-Insight Pub. Co..
Cal Ledsham (2010). Love, Power and Consistency: Scotus' Doctrines of God's Power, Contingent Creation, Induction and Natural Law. Sophia 49 (4):557-575.
Pascal Massie (2004). Saving Contingency. Epoché 8 (2):333-350.
Analytics
Monthly downloads
Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
|
Added to index2010-09-12Total downloads1 ( #274,507 of 548,969 )Recent downloads (6 months)0How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
