Ep. #39 – Multiple Attributes and Divine Simplicity with Dr. Carl
Summary
Dr. Brian Carl joins us to discuss divine simplicity and the multiplicity of divine attributes. If God is simple, as Classical Theists typically hold, then how can He have multiple attributes? In this episode, Dr. Carl answers several objections to divine simplicity. Lastly, he explains what he means in saying the multiplicity of divine attributes is “in some way on the side of God.”
Guest Bio
Dr. Carl completed his M.A. in Philosophy at Saint Louis University in 2007. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America. His dissertation topic was the order of the divine attributes in St. Thomas Aquinas. Currently, he is an assistant professor of philosophy of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies.
Show Outline
In the first segment, Dr. Carl tells the story of how he got interested in philosophy and theology. He explains what we mean by ‘divine simplicity’ as well as ‘the multiplicity of divine attributes.’
In the next segment, Dr. Carl answers some common objections to divine simplicity. He discusses Alvin Plantinga’s famous objection that God is a property as well as another objection that divine simplicity is incoherent since it implies that wisdom is the same as power which is the same as goodness and so forth.
In the final segment, he provides some reasons for holding to divine simplicity in spite of the many famous objections against it. Lastly, he explains what he means when he says the multiplicity of divine attributes is “in some way on the side of God.”
Resources Mentioned
Five Proofs of the Existence of God by Dr. Edward Feser
St. Thomas on God’s Simplicity – Summa Theologiae
Does God Have a Nature? By Alvin Plantinga
Related Episodes
Ep. #25 – A Divine Simplicity Primer with Paul Chutikorn
Ep. #32 – An Interview with Dr. Edward Feser
Ep. #37 – Classical Theism and Simplicity with Dr. Stump
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