Brunner on the Existence of God
I share with you my thoughts on some of my daily readings. These days I read Emil Brunner (Unse Glaube, 1935). I make available these notes because I believe that we have many things to learn from this theologian, even if we disagree at certain points (i.e. the character of revelation, infallibility of Scripture). Enjoy reading!
If somebody asks about God's existence the polite answer is silence, and the proper answer is 'You fool!' God is not an object of knowledge; we cannot investigate God as we do with people, objects or natural phenomena. God is not from this world, he is not of this world, he is not an object among other objects. That is why, he can't be the object of our knowledge. Read More...
The existence of God
If somebody asks about God's existence the polite answer is silence, and the proper answer is 'You fool!' God is not an object of knowledge; we cannot investigate God as we do with people, objects or natural phenomena. God is not from this world, he is not of this world, he is not an object among other objects. That is why, he can't be the object of our knowledge. Read More...
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Sartre's Atheistic Existentialism
Existentialism begins with the subjective, the existence comes before the essence (Sartre 1945, 1). This subjective is the ‘human reality,’ it is a being which exist before being defined by any concept (Sartre 1945, 1). Read More...
Mythos of Enlightenment
The movement of Enlightenment is complex and radical. It has the purpose of liberating men from fear and establishing their sovereignty (Horkheimer, Adorno 1989, 3), and the program of the disenchantment of the world (Horkheimer, Adorno 1989, 3). Its radicality is seen in extinguishing any trace of its own self-consciousness (Horkheimer, Adorno 1989, 4); also some substitutions take place: formula for concept, rule and probability for cause and motive (Horkheimer, Adorno 1989, 5). The rule of computation and utility is the measuring standard; if something does not conform to this, it becomes suspect (Horkheimer, Adorno 1989, 6). Read More...
Heidegger on Da-sein
According the Heidegger being has the character of Da-sein, and the fundamental structure of Da-sein is being-in-the-world (Heidegger 1996, 37). This structure is constantly whole. The essence of this being lies in its to be (Heidegger 1996, 39); the essence of Da-sein lies in its existence (Heidegger 1996, 40). Read More...
Heidegger and the Meaning of Being
Why the question of ‘Being’ has been forgotten?
The answer formulated by Heidegger has three major aspects. The overall perspective is that there are prejudices that promote the idea that a questioning of being is not needed. These prejudices are rooted in ancient ontology (Heidegger 1996, 2). These prejudices are presented by Heidegger in three sections: universality, indefinability, and self evidence. Heidegger’s description and critique of every one of these goes like this. Read More...
The answer formulated by Heidegger has three major aspects. The overall perspective is that there are prejudices that promote the idea that a questioning of being is not needed. These prejudices are rooted in ancient ontology (Heidegger 1996, 2). These prejudices are presented by Heidegger in three sections: universality, indefinability, and self evidence. Heidegger’s description and critique of every one of these goes like this. Read More...
Again on Descartes' Method
Descartes method of doubting exposed in the Mediations worked in the following way. His intention was to doubt every proposition he was able to. For that he used two conjectures: the conjecture of the dream, and the conjecture of the evil demon. All his knowledge can be just a dream or all his knowledge can be a big lie because some evil demon is devoted to deceive him. Descartes’s point with these two conjectures was to show their bizarreness. He needed a measure of certainty that goes beyond everything, even reaching the incredible and the bizarre. Read More...
The Son from Above
This paper is in the area of New Testament Christology. It is a comparison study on some of the main christological texts, namely, Philippians 2 and John 1. The main Christological outlook of New Testament is present in these texts, so this study will help in understanding of what we have in this area of New Testament study. These samples illuminate the concepts and the contexts in which New Testament tackles this subject. The area covered is large, Pauline and Johanine communities at worship and reflection. I will approach them in the accepted historical order of their writing: Philippians 2 and John 1. I will focus on their specific outlook, their relationship with the supposed intended setting, their common ground, and their particularities. The purpose of this paper is to explore the variety of ways in which Christ was seen and integrated in the early Christian matrix.
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Philippians 2.5-11 - The Christ event and life as a citizen
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Descartes's Arguments for the Existence of God
Descartes in Meditation III offers two separate arguments for the existence of God. The first starts with the fact that everyone of us has an idea of God, and the second starts with the fact that it is certain that I exist.
The steps of the first argument are like this:
I have an idea of an infinitely perfect substance / such an idea must have a cause / from nothing nothing comes / so the cause of an idea must have at least as much formal reality as there is subjective reality in the idea / I am a substance, but I am not perfect / so I could not be the cause of this idea / so there must be a formal reality that is an infinitely perfect substance / so God exists. Read More...
The steps of the first argument are like this:
I have an idea of an infinitely perfect substance / such an idea must have a cause / from nothing nothing comes / so the cause of an idea must have at least as much formal reality as there is subjective reality in the idea / I am a substance, but I am not perfect / so I could not be the cause of this idea / so there must be a formal reality that is an infinitely perfect substance / so God exists. Read More...
Descartes and his Method
The overall method of Descartes is a method of doubt. He dismisses knowledge derived from authority, senses, and reason (Watson, 2014). His demonstration is one of clarity and absolute certainty (Skirry). He is determined to bring any belief based on sensation into doubt because they might be a dream; mathematics included, because of the existence of an evil demon with supreme power of cunning about everything.
Doubting for Truth
Read More...Overview of Existentialism
Existentialism is a philosophical theory characterized by a search for the meaning of existence/being. The norm of authenticity (Crowell, 2010) is the governing norm in this search. The considered aspects of existence are several: the problematic character of the human situation, the phenomena of this situation, the intersubjectivity that is inherent in existence, the general meaning of Being, and the therapeutic value of existential analysis (Abbagnano, 2014).
Authenticity
Read More...Berkeley between Malebranche and Locke
The role of Malebranche in understanding Berkeley. Malebranche, a follower of Descartes, very influential in France, is important in understanding Berkeley. Malebranche understands ‘what is it for one thing to cause another’ in terms of necessity; it must be, when A happens, B necessary follows. Why is this? Because the only real cause in universe is God, and God sustains the world by recreating it every instant (see Malebranche 1688, 1.10; 2.4; 3.5; 3.16).
Revised Occasionalism
Read More...Leibniz on God and the World
The main outlook on God, by Leibniz, in his Discourse on Metaphysics, is given towards the end of his argument when he says that ‘we must think of God not only as the root cause of all substances and of all beings, but also as the leader of all persons or thinking substances, or as the absolute monarch of the most perfect city or republic - which is what the universe composed of the assembled totality of mind is’ (Leibniz 1686, 35). To this I have to add what he says at the beginning of his argument that ‘God is absolutely perfect being’ (Leibniz 1686, 1). The perfection of God applies to his power, knowledge, wisdom, and actions; they are of highest degree, he has them in ‘unlimited form’ (Leibniz 1686, 1). These three metaphors of ‘root cause’, ‘leader,’ and ‘absolute monarch’ give me the structure of the answer to the question ‘What is God?’ and the related terms of ‘all substances,’ ‘thinking substances,’ and ‘the most perfect city’ give me the elements of the answer to the second question of this assignment 'What philosophical problems is Leibniz working through his contemplation of God?'
What is God?
Read More...Augustine on Time
For Augustine the time itself is created by God: ‘there was no time before heaven and earth’ (Conf. 11.13.15); there is no ‘then’ where there is no time. God is understood to exist in an ‘ever-present eternity’ (Conf. 11.13.16; Russell, 2009) beyond time where his ‘today’ is eternity. To underlay the beginning of time and the distinction from eternity Augustine says that ’there was never a time when there was no time’ (Conf. 11.13.16). In other words God is not coeternal with time (Conf. 11.13.17).
Sequence and Time
Read More...God in Berkeley's Philosophy
The role of God in Berkeley philosophy is that of the foundation of existence. Everything that exists, exists because exists in the mind of the Eternal Spirit/God. In Berkeley’s words this is expressed as follows: ‘All the bodies which compose the mighty frame of the world, have not any subsistence without a mind, that their being is to be perceived or known; that consequently so long as they are not actually perceived by me, or do not exist in my mind or that of any other created spirit, they must either have no existence at all, or else subsist in the mind of some Eternal Spirit’ (Berkeley 1710, I.6).
Perception, Reality and God
Read More...Averroës on the Existence of God
This summary is based on my readings in ‘Religion and Philosophy’ (Kitab fasl al-maqal, c. 1190 CE) in which I follow Averroës’s arguments for the existence of God. The main point of departure is the fact that ‘God has invited men to a knowledge of His existence, and informed them of it through the intelligence which He has implanted in their nature’ (Introduction; ‘God has borne witness, that there is no God, but He.’ Qur’an 3.16; see also Russell 2009, 345). That is the business of philosophy, ‘to look into creation and to ponder over it in order to be guided to the Creator.’ A believer needs ‘instruments of observation’ such as ‘various kinds of reasoning’ before he begins to look into creation. If someone follows the purpose of philosophy in investigating the existence of things, it would try to know the cause which led to its creation, and the purpose of it would know the argument of kindness.