Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Absolute

  • How Could God be Ineffable?

    The mystically inclined say that God is ineffable.  The ineffable is the inexpressible, the unspeakable. Merriam-Webster:  Ineffable comes from ineffābilis, which joins the prefix in-, meaning "not," with the adjective effābilis, meaning "capable of being expressed." Effābilis comes from effārī, "to speak out," which in turn comes from ex- and fārī, meaning “to speak.” But: "What we cannot speak about we must pass over in…

  • Grace

    Between phenomenology and theology. Stack leader.

  • God as Uniquely Unique

    Top o' the Stack Correctly used, 'unique' is three-way polyvalent. It  can mean that which is one of a kind, that which is necessarily one of a kind, and that which is uniquely unique in that it transcends the kind-instance distinction.   

  • Is the Real a Tricycle?

    Had enough of doom and gloom, politics and perfidy? Try this Substack article on for size.  I examine a point of dispute between Alvin Plantinga and John Hick,  two distinguished contributors to the philosophy of religion. The Substack article also relates to my earlier discussion with Tom the Canadian, here. (I am protective of my…

  • Transcendence

    The Transcendence we aim at is so faint and uncertain, so easy to suspect of being a mirage, while the earthly lures are so loudly attractive, so seemingly real. This is reality, the sense world shouts at us. All else is illusion!

  • On God’s Not Falling Under Concepts

    Fr. Deinhammer tells us,  ". . . Gott fällt nicht unter Begriffe, er ist absolut unbegreiflich. . . ." "God does not fall under concepts; he is absolutely inconceivable or unconceptualizable. . . ." Edward the Logician sent me an e-mail in which he forwards a stock objection: Who is it who is absolutely inconceivable…

  • God as Uniquely Unique

    I hit upon 'uniquely unique' a while back as an apt predicate of God.  But it is only the formulation that is original; the thought is ancient. To be unique is to be one of a kind.  It will be allowed that nothing counts as God unless it is unique.  So at a bare minimum,…

  • Moving from Religion to Philosophy: A Typology of Motives

    People come to philosophy from various 'places.'  Some come from religion, others from mathematics and the natural sciences, still others from literature and the arts.  There are other termini a quis as well.  In this post I am concerned only with the move from religion to philosophy.  What are the main types of reasons for those who are…

  • How Could God be Justice itself?

    David Gudeman writes; I reply:   George Berkeley was the first author who really shook my confidence in my existing world view. Before I read Berkeley, I had a Mr. Johnson-style contempt of physical idealism; after reading Berkeley, I realized that I had been naive–not because Berkeley was necessarily right, but because once I suppressed…

  • World + God = God? The Aporetics of the God-World ‘Relation’ (2020 Version)

    This from a reader: I just started reading Philosophy for Understanding Theology by Diogenes Allen. The first chapter is devoted to the doctrine of creation.  These two sentences jumped out at me: "The world plus God is not more than God alone. God less the world is not less than God alone." Do you agree? How would…

  • Idolatry without God

    "I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have false gods before me." If God exists and you worship anything in his place, then that thing is a false god and you are an idolater.  But if God does not exist, and you worship anything at all, then you are also an idolater.  Or…

  • How Can Anyone Live for This Life Alone?

    This just over the transom: There's a question I've been pondering for some time that I'd like your opinion on if you're willing. I've always been fascinated by people who have been occupied and consumed by the things of the world- power, money, fame, sex, etc. For example, I just finished watching a documentary about…

  • Could All Paths be Dead Ends?

    I wrote: Reason in the end must confess its own infirmity.  It cannot deliver on its promises. The truth-seeker must explore other avenues.  Religion is one, mysticism is another.  Vito Caiati responds: My concern is as follows: While I agree that “reason in the end must confess its own infirmity,” I am troubled by the…

  • Grace

    Is it possible to take grace seriously these days? Well, I just arose from a good session on the black mat.  For a few moments I touched upon interior silence and experienced its bliss. This is nothing I conjured up from my own resources. But if I say I was granted this blissful silence by…

  • Is Everything an Object Among Objects?

    My opponent says Yes; I return a negative answer.  This entry continues the discussion in earlier theological posts, but leaves the simple God out of it, the better to dig down to the bare logical bones of the matter.  Theologians do not have proprietary rights in the Inexpressible and the Ineffable. Argument For The opponent…