Model Exam Answer Examples

Model Exam Answer Undergraduate Philosophy
Is Omnipotence possible

In order to illustrate the direction analysis should head in answering this question we first need to define "possible" and "omnipotence" . I interpret "possible" here as logically coherent i.e. if a conception of omnipotence that is not logically incoherent can be developed then I propose to conclude that omnipotence is a possible attribute of a thing. The answer to this issue hinges critically on how we define omnipotence; how we interpret what it is to say "X is omnipotent". My proposed method of analysis then is to begin with a broad definition of omnipotence, analyse problems with such a concept, and investigate whether a coherent definition can be salvaged.

A broad ranging definition of omnipotence - in line with its literal translation as "all able" - could be: "X is omnipotent if, for all P, X can bring it about that P". But this is clearly a non-starter. We can simply substitute a logical impossibility for P, such as a square circle or "P and not P" and thus require our omnipotent X to be able to do the logically impossible. Though this is a view of an omnipotent being (namely the Christian God) that Descartes, amongst others, held, it has been widely rejected since by both philosophers and theologians. Perhaps the main reason for maintaining that an omnipotent being could not do the logically impossible is that it seems right to argue that such beings should be constrained by logic on the grounds […]

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