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03-27-2002, 09:48 PM | #11 |
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First, to kctan:
Is the identity of omnipotence properly thought of as a limit upon omnipotence? Or, is truth (primary logic) only a limit upon what we can rightly say that omnipotence is? And, how about your notion that omnipotence is power without logical limit? Are you sure that that is the case? Because, if it is, than it must have the ability to make itself more powerful still, which trashes your assertion. And, if that is not enough to convince you against your current reasoning, then ponder this: If your proof were consistent with your standard of conception, you would have no way to prove that a being with anti-qualified freedom could not exist: if it existed, logic could not disprove its existence. If your standard of conception were correct, then the only way you could ever be sure whether or not such an omnipotence existed is if you woke up tomorrow to find that 2 plus 2 now equal 64000. Why reality demands that omnipotence be conceived as something which reality denies exists is beyond me. What is real is that people contradict themselves, for, impossible concepts do not exist limply out there in reality, but are imposed by erroneous thinking. The attempt to think rightly is like trying to learn the simple instructions for wonderfully complex dance moves which are being given over the phone. The mind has a thousand arms---and if any of them are not used in coordination with the others, they get in the way wherever they are; the problem is in rightly determining which ones really are in the wrong place. <a href="http://www.chinapage.com/story/illogic.html" target="_blank">http://www.chinapage.com/story/illogic.html</a> says, in part: "By logic, both an unpenetrable shield and an all-piercing spear can not exist at the same time." But, is it possible to have an impenetrable sheild and an inviolable logic at the same time? Yes, it is. ******************************** To Datheron: I had said: Does that mean that logic is more powerful than God? What is this word: "cannot"? Does "cannot" have a meaning in itself, or is it, too, relative, i.e., relative to the object to which it is applied? Datheron replied: My reasoning is that it is more powerful than God, What if it is God? Datheron continued: and if that is the case, then God is not omnipotent as advertised, or he is powerless under a "greater law" which would than allow for a greater creator of these laws, etc. However, I have had trouble advancing this argument, so be wary. It seems to me that anti-qualified freedom is very simply not worth having. If anyone can tell me one (real) use which it could have over logically qualified omnipotence, I would be surprised. If you had qualified omnipotence, and omniscience on top of it, what more could you want? If power is a self-consistent logical identity, then self-consistent logic is inherent in power. If it is inherent in power, then it is inherent in all-power. BTW, if the famous rock question were really a test of the property of omnipotence, then you and I would be half omnipotent: we fit that test. Datheron said: I'm not getting how you're questioning the definintion of "cannot". My definition is simply: "the inability to perform a feat or task". If you mean that each individual has a different set of limits and abilities, then that's obviously the case. Otherwise, you'll have to clarify. If everything is related to something, then so is the idea of 'cannot'. Related to power, 'cannot' would mean limited power. Related to truth (logic), it obviously means something else. Since omnibenevolence is refering to benevolence and not to malevolence or indifference, much less to knowledge and power, omnipotence is refering to power and not to impotence, much less to knowledge or heart. If omnipotence were refering to logic and heart and even to sxphdt or ______, then the proper conception of omnibenevolence must be the irrational version I gave at the beginning of this thread. Can, or cannot, benevolence be malevolence? Thus, the term 'cannot' is relative to its object and is not itself some sort of universal 'cannot-ness'. Part of the confusion arises from the implicit fact that power exists on a spectrum, while primary logic is fixed period. Another part is from the implicit fact that logic (sound reasoning) proves all things while power proves only power. Not that one can use argument to prove to that mad mother bear that her paws are no match for you as she swats you to a pulp, but that power, when used, leaves evidence to logic, so that something turned that guy into a bloody corpse. I had said: Are you assuming there that God is nothing? Like, is God a being without anything of which he is? Like, say he is simply omnipresent without there being anything present? Is God to be conceived of as a person without anything of which this person is? Datheron replied: Depends on what you define "being" as. If we accept the idea that God willed himself into existence, then there was nothing except God. I do not accept that idea. I reason that, if God exists and that he created everything else which exists, then he is self-existent. This is just like, if he does not exist, that something is self-existent, whether it be a physical thing or merely an order by which physical things come into existence out of nothing. If nothing is self-existent, then anything goes, and I do mean anything, in the anti-qualified sense. Datheron continued: There is nothing to reference other than himself; hence, there can be no other references possible, hence making thought itself not possible. That seems to me to assume that God has the limits of a contingent being, and a contingent being necessarily is referenced to something outside itself. If God is supposed to be self-existent, then he is not contingent and thus in no need of getting his bearings---he is the bearings. What would be in his mind would be knowledge of all the things which necessarily exist. Like number and logic, for instance. If God were the bearings (the necessary existences), this would mean that God is, among other things, logic. While a contingent being would naturally fail to comphrehend how a person could himself be logic, yet this is just what is required if it is supposed that God is the Axiom, the creator, of all else. Hence, omnipotence. I had said: Yet, some power must simply exist of itself, otherwise.... Datheron replied: ...otherwise what? Are you implying some sort of a causality of power that we must trace back to the "ultimate standard" of power? Power cannot come from what is not power. Therefore, power exists necessarily if it is to exist at all. That is, unless we think it reasonable to say that it is not a case of power for power to come into existence out of nothing. If all the power which has ever existed originated out of nothing, then, by very definition of power, the nothing is powerful and so we do not have nothing there, but simple power without reference. I had said: Something must exist of itself, even though there are (or can be) things which are made of it. Datheron replied: Then you're making an appeal to causality, which is fine...except that the "something must exist of itself" itself is for some reason not subject to causality. This horrible catch-22 makes your position incoherent. I'm sorry, I fail to follow you. My mind is becoming incoherent on its own. Restate it in a self-contained statement, if you would. What is the incoherence? |
03-28-2002, 05:03 PM | #12 | ||||||||||||
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Danpech,
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And of course, there is no such thing as "half omnipotence". That makes the mistake of assuming that omnipotence is somewhere on a finite number line of power...kind of like saying there's a "half infinity" somewhere. Quote:
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03-29-2002, 10:11 AM | #13 |
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I actually had a friend who extended God's omnipotence to that which is logically impossible...led to a fun dialogue:
Friend: God can do anything. Me: So can God both exist and not exist? Him: Yep. Me: So can God not exist. Him: Yep. Me: So, God can... not exist. Him: Yep. Me: So, we agree then, that God cannot exist. Him: Uhh...HEY! You suck! (By no means do a claim this was any more than a play on words, but man, to see the expression on his face ) |
03-31-2002, 03:51 PM | #14 | ||||||||||||||||
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Datheron,
I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What if it is God? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied: Quote:
I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seems to me that anti-qualified freedom is very simply not worth having. If anyone can tell me one (real) use which it could have over logically qualified omnipotence, I would be surprised. If you had qualified omnipotence, and omniscience on top of it, what more could you want? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied: Quote:
I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If power is a self-consistent logical identity, then self-consistent logic is inherent in power. If it is inherent in power, then it is inherent in all-power. BTW, if the famous rock question were really a test of the property of omnipotence, then you and I would be half omnipotent: we fit that test. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied: Quote:
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Of course, if you define omnipotence as infinite power, this is not the same thing as the anti-qualified freedom which some suppose to be conceptually valid omnipotence. In the rock-question challenge to omnipotence, the challenger assumes one standard of conception and then another standard of proof. First he assumes something of definition which he does not assume in proof, the latter assumption being the only valid one, while he then concludes from his proof that omnipotence is impossible, yet all he has done is proven his first assumption invalid. Of course, his underlying motive and his ignorance of proof realms is what messes him up in the first place. Logic is a proof realm, and power has nothing to do with it. Likewise, power is a proof realm and logic has nothing to do with that. The implicit motive of the part of theoretical physics which seeks a unified physics is to find the object(s) of all the power that exists which causes every event. I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If everything is related to something, then so is the idea of 'cannot'. Related to power, 'cannot' would mean limited power. Related to truth (logic), it obviously means something else. Since omnibenevolence is refering to benevolence and not to malevolence or indifference, much less to knowledge and power, omnipotence is refering to power and not to impotence, much less to knowledge or heart. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Right. However, please define "heart". Why? You seemed to agree by saying "Right". I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If omnipotence were refering to logic and heart and even to sxphdt or ______, then the proper conception of omnibenevolence must be the irrational version I gave at the beginning of this thread. Can, or cannot, benevolence be malevolence? Thus, the term 'cannot' is relative to its object and is not itself some sort of universal 'cannot-ness'. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied: Quote:
I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part of the confusion arises from the implicit fact that power exists on a spectrum, while primary logic is fixed period. Another part is from the implicit fact that logic (sound reasoning) proves all things while power proves only power. Not that one can use argument to prove to that mad mother bear that her paws are no match for you as she swats you to a pulp, but that power, when used, leaves evidence to logic, so that something turned that guy into a bloody corpse. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied: Quote:
I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do not accept that idea. I reason that, if God exists and that he created everything else which exists, then he is self-existent. This is just like, if he does not exist, that something is self-existent, whether it be a physical thing or merely an order by which physical things come into existence out of nothing. If nothing is self-existent, then anything goes, and I do mean anything, in the anti-qualified sense. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied: Quote:
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I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That seems to me to assume that God has the limits of a contingent being, and a contingent being necessarily is referenced to something outside itself. If God is supposed to be self-existent, then he is not contingent and thus in no need of getting his bearings---he is the bearings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied: Quote:
I reason that, if God exists and that he created everything else which exists, then he is self-existent. This is just like, if he does not exist, that something is self-existent, whether it be a physical thing or merely an order by which physical things come into existence out of nothing. ---whether it be a physical thing--- That logically includes a recursive universe. I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What would be in his mind would be knowledge of all the things which necessarily exist. Like number and logic, for instance. If God were the bearings (the necessary existences), this would mean that God is, among other things, logic. While a contingent being would naturally fail to comphrehend how a person could himself be logic, yet this is just what is required if it is supposed that God is the Axiom, the creator, of all else. Hence, omnipotence. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied: Quote:
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I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Power cannot come from what is not power. Therefore, power exists necessarily if it is to exist at all. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied: Quote:
I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That is, unless we think it reasonable to say that it is not a case of power for power to come into existence out of nothing. If all the power which has ever existed originated out of nothing, then, by very definition of power, the nothing is powerful and so we do not have nothing there, but simple power without reference. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied Quote:
I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm sorry, I fail to follow you. My mind is becoming incoherent on its own. Restate it in a self-contained statement, if you would. What is the incoherence? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You replied: Quote:
To Baloo, Similar tricks abound in all matters, Baloo, not just in theology. BTW, I really like your name there. Baloo bear in The Jungle Book was my favorite cartoon character of all time. |
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03-31-2002, 06:30 PM | #15 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Danpech,
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Furthermore, this "opposite of ..." definition is vague and abstract - in daily life, I will note that an opposite usually has a definition that is catered specifically to the context from which it is derived...i.e. opposite colors does not work the same way as opposite standards, which is different from opposite lifestyles. Similarly, you cannot make analogies between omniscience and omnipotence and their "opposites" without first defining what they are. Finally, note that omniscience is knowledge, and knowledge is not necessarily logic. Logic is a system of identities and laws we have abstracted from our universe to provide a means to run it; however, without knowledge to run the laws with, logic is useless. Here, you are trying to muddy the waters between the laws themselves, and the knowledge by which we can apply these laws. Quote:
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Also, it looks like you're relying a lot on self-existence. Before we proceed any further, let's define what it means to exist, and to self-exist. Quote:
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04-01-2002, 04:48 AM | #16 | |||||
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Quotes from Danpech,
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Who says 2 + 2 cannot equal 64000 ? You are the one limiting yourself to the fact that 2+2=4 & not 64000. Quote:
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04-03-2002, 03:49 PM | #17 | ||||||||
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I had said:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is the identity of omnipotence properly thought of as a limit upon omnipotence? Or, is truth (primary logic) only a limit upon what we can rightly say that omnipotence is? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- kctan replied: Quote:
meaning is there to unqualified power? If this is what omnipotence is, then omniscience is necessarily knowing how to do all the invalid things which this 'omnipotence' "can" do. If you do not agree with this, then you are using specious reasoning in saying that omnipotence is unqualified while allowing that omniscience is qualified. The same applies to omnibenevolence, and even to any other omni which we may think of, such as omnipresence. If omnipotence is above logic, then so is omniscience. A being who possessed unqualified omnipotence would necessarily possess unqualified omniscience. The point of all this is to show that some things necessarily exist, and you already grant that primary logic is one of them. But, if you should not grant that primary logic is inviolable, then you shall have contradicted yourself by asserting that unqualified power cannot exist. I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And, how about your notion that omnipotence is power without logical limit? Are you sure that that is the case? Because, if it is, than it must have the ability to make itself more powerful still, which trashes your assertion. And, if that is not enough to convince you against your current reasoning, then ponder this: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- kctan replied: Quote:
"ability" to do the logically invalid, and that is what you are assuming by conceiving of omnipotence in the way that you do. Yet, your standard of conception for omnipotence contradicts the very definition of omnipotence which you arrive at by it, because such an omnipotence, by being 'above' logic, can make itself even more powerful still. This, of course, is meaningless. Hence, you think that you have conceived of omnipotence when you really have not. Yet, you grant that primary logic is a necessary thing, and your proof that this omnipotence cannot exist implicitly assumes that power and logic are duistinctly different realms. Surely, you do not think that you can pass an exam in advanced logic by showing your logic professor that you can squat five-hundred-pounds-worth of copies of your exam. Surely, you do not think that you can pass it by using telekenesis to lift those five-hundred pounds. Surely, you do not think that you can pass it by creating those copies from nothing using your 'mind power'. kctan coninued: Quote:
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I had said: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why reality demands that omnipotence be conceived as something which reality denies exists is beyond me. What is real is that people contradict themselves, for, impossible concepts do not exist limply out there in reality, but are imposed by erroneous thinking. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- kctan replied: Quote:
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Now for the problem at hand. By what standard have you yourself claimed that it is erroneous to believe that omnipotence does not (does not) include the "ability" to do the logically impossible? If your conception of omnipotence is truly what omnipotence is, then my conception of omnipotence is false, because my conception of omnipotence, through primary logic, says that your conception of omnipotence is false. If you are thinking right concerning what omnipotence is, then I am thinking wrong. The fact that power "cannot" encroach upon primary logic is seen by you to mean that logic is greater than power. This is power vs. logic in the court of logic. This is a confused standard, and you already admit that power cannot encroach the realm of logic. If the reasoning behind this standard were to be applied, within the realm of power, to logic, you would have the same kind of fallacy: that power is geater than logic. This is logic vs. power in the court of power. Consider logic vs. benevolence. Is logic greater than benevolence? Only if you fail to see that benevolence is a realm of its own and the sole judge within its realm. Can logic prove that benevolence is malevolence? No. Can logic prove that power is no-power? No. The atheist at the following link explains why this whole omnipotence thing you put forward is a fallacy. He agrees with me. <a href="http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/rock.html" target="_blank">http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/rock.html</a> |
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04-04-2002, 07:53 PM | #18 |
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Dan:
Is not the most powerful form of logic that which enables you to convince other people you are omnipotent? Once you achieve this, in a way, you are! To avoid being caught out by ones obvious deficiency in the potency department, the next best thing is to convince people that you represent the omnipotent and have personal sway over what he will do. Then you call yourself Pope. Who was it said "Perception is reality"? |
04-05-2002, 01:53 AM | #19 | |
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