Philosophy
Religions are wacky in all sorts of ways, but at the heart of Christianity there is a logical problem so deep, one has to wonder how on earth it's possible for people to actually believe it... and no, I'm not talking about the fact God basically raped Mary and knocked her up (yes, rape: she never consented and was only informed about it after the fact). But that's a moral problem, not a logical one.
The logical problem arises out of the identity relationship between God and Jebus: one is the father, the other the son, and magically they are still somehow supposed to be the same person. When philosophers analyze the question of personal identity, we argue that one of the logical rules any criterion of identity must satisfy is the transitive rule of identity: if A=B, and B=C, then A=C.
Now, a father/son relationship is precisely NOT an identity relation, since they are supposed to be numerically distinct persons. In other words, it would make no sense to say that if grandpa = father, and father = son, then grandpa = son. There's all kinds of wacky things that could turn out to be true: you could be your baby's mother and sister, for instance. Hell, you could even be your grandpa's son and grandson simultaneously, but you can't be your own father...
If you think about it from the point of view of a causal relationship, the matter is just as mysterious: how exactly is it possible for someone to cause his own existence without already presupposing the existence of said being? Some may call it a divine and transcendent mystery; I call it a logical contradiction!
Don't feel bad if you're confused, though... so is Mr. Deity, and he's God :)
Who's on third? George Bush! :)
.
- The Edge Of Identity
Today is the birthday of David Howell Evans, the guitarist of the band U2 better known simply as "The Edge." I've been thinking about pseudonyms lately because it was noted in a conversation recently how many fewer actors are taking stage names. It...
- The Problems Of Evil And Free Will
Guest-post today from Todd Furman at McNeese State: A plausible theodicy must accomplish at least two tasks. First, it must clear God of bringing evil into the universe; and two it must absolve God from being culpable for any existent evils. The Fall,...
- What Is Genocide?
Sat in on a colleagues class yesterday and they were working on a piece by psychologist David Moshman called "Us and Them: Identity and Genocide" where Moshman argues that the traditional definition of genocide is too broad in that it only looks at the...
- Logical Positivism: Schlick, Carnap, A. J. Ayer
.Strongly influenced by the Tractatus of Wittgenstein, a group of philosophers in Vienna in 1920s initiated a movement which came to be known as Logical Positivism, and the group of philosophers became famous as the Vienna Circle. The Vienna Circle was...
- Carl Gustav Hempel...logical Positivism/logical Empiricism
Carl Gustav Hempel January 8th 1905 to November 9th 1997 Not exactly a household name and a movement, logical positivism/logical empiricist, that has fallen out of favor much like many others. German-born U.S. philosopher who was one of the leaders of...
Philosophy
God's Identity Crisis
Religions are wacky in all sorts of ways, but at the heart of Christianity there is a logical problem so deep, one has to wonder how on earth it's possible for people to actually believe it... and no, I'm not talking about the fact God basically raped Mary and knocked her up (yes, rape: she never consented and was only informed about it after the fact). But that's a moral problem, not a logical one.The logical problem arises out of the identity relationship between God and Jebus: one is the father, the other the son, and magically they are still somehow supposed to be the same person. When philosophers analyze the question of personal identity, we argue that one of the logical rules any criterion of identity must satisfy is the transitive rule of identity: if A=B, and B=C, then A=C.
Now, a father/son relationship is precisely NOT an identity relation, since they are supposed to be numerically distinct persons. In other words, it would make no sense to say that if grandpa = father, and father = son, then grandpa = son. There's all kinds of wacky things that could turn out to be true: you could be your baby's mother and sister, for instance. Hell, you could even be your grandpa's son and grandson simultaneously, but you can't be your own father...
If you think about it from the point of view of a causal relationship, the matter is just as mysterious: how exactly is it possible for someone to cause his own existence without already presupposing the existence of said being? Some may call it a divine and transcendent mystery; I call it a logical contradiction!
Don't feel bad if you're confused, though... so is Mr. Deity, and he's God :)
Who's on third? George Bush! :)
.
- The Edge Of Identity
Today is the birthday of David Howell Evans, the guitarist of the band U2 better known simply as "The Edge." I've been thinking about pseudonyms lately because it was noted in a conversation recently how many fewer actors are taking stage names. It...
- The Problems Of Evil And Free Will
Guest-post today from Todd Furman at McNeese State: A plausible theodicy must accomplish at least two tasks. First, it must clear God of bringing evil into the universe; and two it must absolve God from being culpable for any existent evils. The Fall,...
- What Is Genocide?
Sat in on a colleagues class yesterday and they were working on a piece by psychologist David Moshman called "Us and Them: Identity and Genocide" where Moshman argues that the traditional definition of genocide is too broad in that it only looks at the...
- Logical Positivism: Schlick, Carnap, A. J. Ayer
.Strongly influenced by the Tractatus of Wittgenstein, a group of philosophers in Vienna in 1920s initiated a movement which came to be known as Logical Positivism, and the group of philosophers became famous as the Vienna Circle. The Vienna Circle was...
- Carl Gustav Hempel...logical Positivism/logical Empiricism
Carl Gustav Hempel January 8th 1905 to November 9th 1997 Not exactly a household name and a movement, logical positivism/logical empiricist, that has fallen out of favor much like many others. German-born U.S. philosopher who was one of the leaders of...