PHL105Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Omnipotence, If And Only If, Theism
Document Summary
Recall: a set of propositions is inconsistent iff it is not possible for all of the propositions in the set to be true. Evil exists. are inconsistent, then at least one of them must be false. A set is explicitly inconsistent iff it implies an explicit contradiction; e. g. , the following set of propositions is explicitly inconsisent: It follows from the first two statements that. Alfred is a liar which explicitly contradicts the last statement. Mackie says that to derive a contradiction, we need further principles that connect the underlying concepts. A good thing always eliminates evil as far as it can. There are no limits to what an omnipotent being can do. We shall understand (b) in the following way: There are no non-logical limits to what an omnipotent being can do. Reformulation 1 of mackie"s argument: if god exists, then god is omnipotent and wholly good, a good being always eliminates evil as far as it can.
