Against Divine Truthmaker Simplicity

Faith and Philosophy 31 (4):460-474 (2014)
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Abstract

Divine Simplicity has it that God is absolutely simple. God exhibits no metaphysical complexity; he has neither proper parts nor distinct intrinsic properties. Recently, Jeffrey Brower has put forward an account of divine simplicity that has it that God is the truthmaker for all intrinsic essential predications about him. This allows Brower to preserve the intuitive thought that God is not a property but a concrete being. In this paper, I provide two objections to Brower’s account that are meant to show that whatever merits this account of divine simplicity has, plausibility is not one of them.

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Author's Profile

Noel Saenz
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Citations of this work

In Defense of Divine Truthmaker Simplicity.Timothy Pawl - 2019 - Res Philosophica 96 (1):63-75.
Why truthmaker theory cannot save divine simplicity.Dean Da Vee - 2021 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 90 (1):43-60.
Brower and Saenz on Divine Truthmaker Simplicity.James R. Beebe - 2018 - Faith and Philosophy 35 (4):473-484.
Still Against Divine Truthmaker Simplicity.Noël Blas Saenz - 2021 - Faith and Philosophy 38 (3):359-74.

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References found in this work

Truth-Makers.Kevin Mulligan, Peter Simons & Barry Smith - 1984 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 44 (3):287-321.
The least discerning and most promiscuous truthmaker.Jonathan Schaffer - 2010 - Philosophical Quarterly 60 (239):307 - 324.
A clarification and defense of the notion of grounding.Paul Audi - 2012 - In Fabrice Correia & Benjamin Schnieder (eds.), Metaphysical Grounding: Understanding the Structure of Reality. Cambridge University Press. pp. 101-121.
Does God Have a Nature?Alvin Plantinga - 1980 - Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.
Recent work on grounding.Michael J. Clark & David Liggins - 2012 - Analysis Reviews 72 (4):812-823.

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