Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 77:129-144 (2003)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
Aquinas maintains that, although God created the universe, he could have created another or simply refrained from creating altogether. That Aquinas believesin divine free choice is uncontroversial. Yet doubts have been raised as to whether Thomas is entitled to this belief, given his claims concerning divine simplicity.According to simplicity, there is no potentiality in God, nor is there a distinction in God between God’s willing, His essence, and His necessary being. On the surface, it appears that these claims leave no room for divine free choice. I argue that attempts by Aquinas and a pair of his contemporary defenders to reconcile God’s freedom with God’s simplicity fail to resolve the problem. Nevertheless, I maintain that Aquinas provides the key to a resolution in his claim that while creatures are really related to God, God is not really related to creatures
|
Keywords | Catholic Tradition Conference Proceedings History of Philosophy Philosophy and Religion |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | 0065-7638 |
DOI | 10.5840/acpaproc20037721 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
No references found.
Citations of this work BETA
Collapsing the Modal Collapse Argument: On an Invalid Argument Against Divine Simplicity.Christopher Tomaszewski - 2019 - Analysis 79 (2):275-284.
Aquinas on Divine Impeccability, Omnipotence, and Free Will.Agustín Echavarría - forthcoming - Religious Studies:1-18.
Similar books and articles
Contra Spinoza: Aquinas on God’s Free Will.John F. Knasas - 2002 - American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 76 (3):417-429.
On a Complex Theory of a Simple God: An Investigation in Aquinas' Philosophical Theology.Christopher Hughes - 1989 - Cornell University Press.
Aquinas, Divine Simplicity and Divine Freedom.Brian Leftow - 2009 - In Kevin Timpe & Eleonore Stump (eds.), Metaphysics and God: Essays in Honor of Eleonore Stump. Routledge.
Aquinas Among Libertarians and Compatibilists: Breaking the Logic of Theological Determinism.W. Matthews Grant - 2001 - Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 75:221-235.
Norman Kretzmann on Aquinass Attribution of Will and of Freedom to Create to God.John F. Wippel - 2003 - Religious Studies 39 (3):287-298.
Divine Simplicity and Divine Command Ethics.Susan Peppers-Bates - 2008 - International Philosophical Quarterly 48 (3):361-369.
The Deadlock of Absolute Divine Simplicity.Yann Schmitt - 2013 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 74 (1):117-130.
Simplicity and Aseity.Jeffrey E. Brower - 2009 - In Thomas P. Flint & Michael C. Rea (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Theology. Oxford University Press. pp. 105-28.
Thomas Aquinas and Divine Command Theory.M. Dougherty - 2002 - Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 76:153-164.
Divine Hiddenness and the Value of Divine–Creature Relationships.Chris Tucker - 2008 - Religious Studies 44 (3):269-287.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2011-12-01
Total views
188 ( #62,296 of 2,507,351 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
11 ( #68,194 of 2,507,351 )
2011-12-01
Total views
188 ( #62,296 of 2,507,351 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
11 ( #68,194 of 2,507,351 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads