An Evaluation of Brian Leftow’s Arguments for the Simplicity of God in Light of Mulla Sadra’s Views

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. student of Philosophy of Religion, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

2 Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The theory of the simplicity of God is one of the most important philosophical theories about the nature of God, which has been controversial even in the contemporary era. Brian Lefto is one of the defenders of this theory in contemporary analytical philosophy of religion who has tried to defend the theory of the simplicity of God and respond to the criticisms of philosophers such as Alvin Plantinga. In this article, it is first shown that Lefto, with the help of 1) the assumption of God's finality, 2) God's absolute creativity, 3) God's perfection and independence, and 4) mystical experiences, has proven that God is not composed of material parts; that God is not composed of essence and existence; that God's essence is not composed of attributes, and that God's attributes are not distinguished from each other; Then, relying on some of Mulla Sadra's arguments, such as the priority of the nessessary existance over everything, the possibility or necessity of the parts, the contradiction of the necessity of the essence, and the combination of existence and non-existence, it has been shown that although both are defenders of the theory of the simplicity of God, But first, they have two separate conceptions of God. Second, they have presented different arguments in defense of God's simplicity. Third, they have used them to deny different combinations of God. Fourth, although Leftou has accepted some types of combinations, such as directional combinations, and as a result, some possible attributes in God, it seems that by relying on Mulla Sadra's arguments, it is possible to respond to Leftou by separating the attributes of action and essence and defend the necessity of all of God's attributes.

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References

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