PHIL 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Reductio Ad Absurdum, Omnibenevolence
Document Summary
Can the gcb make a stone that it is in principle impossible to lift? . Option 1: the gcb can make such a stone, but wouldn"t be able to lift it and therefore is not so great. Option 2: the gcb can"t make an unliftable stone. Either way there is a limitation on the gcb"s power. Omnipotence in this case is not well defined and is therefore confusing. Having the power to do anything at all. Makes the stone example incoherent and contradictory. Having the power to do anything it is possible to do. More modest definition, limits power of gcb. Theist response to the paradox of the stone. We have to clarify our definition of omnipotence. Modest definition is a solution to the paradox of the stone. Maybe omnipotence is just a matter of doing whatever is possible to do. Being able to do anything possible to do is still quite great.
