December 2011
5 posts
5 tags
On Ontology: Anselm
Ontology is the branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature of being, in this case the existence of God.
Saint Anselm of Canterbury had a famous argument on this topic. He claimed that God is “something than which nothing greater can be conceived,” and his argument continues as follows:
Something that can be conceived exists in understanding.
Something that exists in reality is...
6 tags
Monism and movement
I tried reading the Ethics at first but it was obvious to me that I was not comprehending it well at all, so I decided to read the Cambridge Companion to Spinoza in the hopes that reading about Spinoza’s Ethics will allow me to understand the Ethics better when I read it proper.
As far as I understand about Spinoza’s substance monism, thought and physical extension are simply...
1 tag
“Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the world.”
– Archimedes
4 tags
On Omnipotent
Can God create a stone that he cannot lift?
If god cannot lift a stone, then how can he be all powerful? The same goes for a god that could not create such a stone. This question and others like it are often asked as a counter-argument to an omni-potent god. One problem with arguments along these lines is that they put forward a logical impossibility and demand that it be solved, as if the...
Why
I decided that I should use this tumblr as an opportunity to engage with my self-directed philosophical study and an excuse to continue writing in a routine manner. However, some of the topics that will come up have the potential to deeply offend people, so I shall endeavour to engage with topics in a charitable manner. I am still wholly ignorant in philosophical matters, so I will undoubtedly...