The greatest possible being / Jeff Speaks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Speaks, Jeffrey, 1975- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophical theology.

God.

Religion--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

viii, 175 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2018.

Summary:

"What can we know about God by reason alone? Philosophical theology is the attempt to obtain such knowledge. An ancient tradition, which is perhaps more influential now than ever, tries to derive the attributes of God from the principle that God is the greatest possible being. Jeff Speaks argues that that constructive project is a failure. He also argues that the related view that the concept of God is the concept of a greatest possible being is a mistake. In the last chapter, he sketches an alternative path forward."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 The Idea of a Greatest Possible Being p. 3

1.1 From greatness to the divine attributes p. 5

1.2 The modal conception of God p. 8

1.3 Two steps to a perfect being theology p. 10

1.4 Modal principles p. 13

1.5 Greatness conditions p. 17

2 Alethic Perfect Being Theology p. 19

2.1 The greatest actual being p. 19

2.2 The greatest possible being p. 22

2.3 The restriction strategy p. 24

2.3.1 The extended restriction strategy p. 28

2.3.2 Pure vs. impure perfections p. 36

2.4 The conjunctive strategy p. 38

2.4.1 The conjunctive-disjunctive strategy p. 44

2.4.2 The conjunctive-elimination strategy p. 47

2.4.3 The conjunctive-conceivability strategy p. 48

3 Epistemic Perfect Being Theology p. 51

3.1 Epistemic greatness conditions p. 52

3.2 The main problem p. 54

3.3 Varieties of conceivability p. 55

3.3.1 Conceivability and logical truth p. 56

3.3.2 Conceivability and a priori truth p. 65

4 Impure Perfect Being Theology p. 73

4.1 Absolute greatness p. 76

4.1.1 Intrinsic goods p. 77

4.1.2 Categories of intrinsic goods p. 83

4.2 Kind-relative goods p. 86

5 Conflict and the Problem of Hidden Attributes p. 95

6 Permissible Tinkering with The Concept of God p. 107

6.1 The perfect being defense in action p. 111

6.2 A reductio of the perfect being defense p. 117

6.3 The perfect being defense: a diagnosis p. 120

6.4 The epistemic perfect being defense p. 124

7 Perfect Being Semantics p. 128

7.1 The standard picture of names p. 129

7.2 Three grades of perfect being semantics p. 130

7.3 What is special about 'God'? p. 135

7.3.1 The argument from the absence of dubbings p. 137

7.3.2 The argument from requirements on reference p. 137

7.3.3 The argument from informative identities p. 138

7.4 The modal conception and semantic equivalence p. 140

7.4.1 Theologically unsophisticated subjects p. 141

7.4.2 Heterodox subjects p. 143

7.4.3 Impoverished modal space p. 147

7.4.4 'The greatest actual being' p. 148

7.5 The modal conception and descriptive association p. 149

7.6 The modal conception and descriptive introduction p. 150

8 Beyond Perfect Being Theology p. 153

8.1 Deriving the attributes p. 153

8.2 Dispensable vs. mandatory attributes p. 157

8.3 The meaning of 'God' p. 159

8.3.1 'God' as an ordinary name p. 159

8.3.2 The real problem with 'God' as an ordinary name p. 165.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [169]-172) and index.

ISBN:

0198826818

9780198826811

OCLC:

1029786394