Suchergebnisse

This paper explores Thomas Aquinas' and Richard Swinburne's doctrines of simplicity in the context of their philosophical theologies. Both say that God is simple. However, Swinburne takes simplicity as a property of the theistic hypothesis, while for Aquinas simplicity is a property of God himself. For Swinburne, simpler theories are ceteris paribus more likely to be true; for Aquinas, simplicity and truth are properties of God which, in a certain way, coincide – because God is metaphysically simple. Notwithstanding their different approaches, some unreckoned parallels between their thoughts are brought to light.

How can we say at once that God's act of creation is a rational act and the world is the fulfillment of God's plan, andthat science tries to unlock the secrets of this plan? These perspectives can only be reconciled through a successful teleological interpretation of physical phenomena. Renowned theologians and natural scientists examine this problem from different points of view. Christian Tapp und Christof Breitsameter, University of Bochum, Germany.

How can we say at once that God's act of creation is a rational act and the world is the fulfillment of God's plan, andthat science tries to unlock the secrets of this plan? These perspectives can only be reconciled through a successful teleological interpretation of physical phenomena. Renowned theologians and natural scientists examine this problem from different points of view. Christian Tapp und Christof Breitsameter, University of Bochum, Germany.

Abstract
This paper reconstructs (in natural language) and discusses a proof of God's existence by Anselm of Canterbury's friend Ralph of Battle (1040–1124), developed in his recently edited De nesciente, a fictitious dialogue between a Christian and an atheist. Without precedent in antiquity and the Middle Ages, Ralph's proof has never been examined in detail. It combines a "cogito" argument with a two-part cosmological argument. The paper first presents the textual basis and an exegetical interpretation of Ralph's reasoning, classifies the parts of the proof historically and systematically, and then compares these with the proofs of God's existence as well as other arguments in Anselm's Proslogion and Monologion. Finally, it points out some similarities between Ralph's "cogito" argument and a passage in the Liber pro insipiente, which may suggest that this anonymous critique of Anselm's Proslogion proof was authored not by Gaunilo, as traditionally thought, but by Ralph.

Panpsychism has become a highly attractive position in the philosophy of mind. On panpsychism, both the physical and the mental are inseparable and fundamental features of reality. Panentheism has also become immensely popular in the philosophy of religion. Panentheism strives for a higher reconciliation of an atheistic pantheism, on which the universe itself is causa sui, and the ontological dualism of necessarily existing, eternal creator and contingent, finite creation. Historically and systematically, panpsychism and panentheism often went together as essential parts of an allembracing metaphysical theory of Being. The present collection of essays analyses the relation between panpsychism and panentheism and provides critical reflections on the significance of panpsychistic and panentheistic thinking for recent debates in philosophy and theology.