tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post2518888647023500461..comments2024-03-29T15:13:42.610+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: The nature of dialectic - the necessity of the viva voce in evaluating real understandingBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-69217876205310328962014-07-14T06:48:10.745+01:002014-07-14T06:48:10.745+01:00@GG - I *think* the answer is that no Son of God c...@GG - I *think* the answer is that no Son of God can surpass God the Father, due to the fact of relationship, which is permanent. That seems right to me. But it also seems right, as William Arkle remarks, that this is not because God would not want it - and any loving parents would hope their children may surpass themselves. <br /><br />And this discussion emphasizes that the universe is a place of learning and growth - even for God. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-21861400924412171562014-07-14T01:48:38.318+01:002014-07-14T01:48:38.318+01:00@Bruce - If Mormon theology is that God advanced t...@Bruce - If Mormon theology is that God advanced to being God by simply obeying the existing eternal rules/laws of goodness, what then is different from the "other great monotheistic religion?" - could one, in theory, surpass even God simply by obeying?<br /><br />I understand in practice Mormons don't work this way (unless the the callings are really just about obedience?), but theoretically it seems a possible problem with Mormon theology.George Goerlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07916687977887167466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-4610894266396086122014-07-13T07:36:31.880+01:002014-07-13T07:36:31.880+01:00@ajb - The general idea is that the implication of...@ajb - The general idea is that the implication of a unitary monotheistic God who created everything from nothing and is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and all the rest of it - is that everything which happens is God; therefore there is no sense in which 'good' is separable from God. <br /><br />From this perspective, once we know (by revelation) what God commands, our job is simply to submit to this. The ultimate blasphemy is for us to evaluate God - and for us to become concerned by our own evaluation (what we, personally, feel about things) is also blasphemous.<br /><br />We live inside God, and are merely parts of his universe, somewhat like the cells of a body. We have a job to do. <br /><br />This system 'works' in the sense of being self-sustaining - but as with any monistic trend, the question nags as to why such a God allows the persistence of apparent opposition, or evil - why indeed there is apparent change - when it would make more sense for things just to *be* eternally. <br /><br />But such questions are an assertion of puny, partial human reasoning presuming to analyse and question divine purpose, and so may be considered blasphemous.<br /><br />The point of this is that if we assume that good is whatever God does, then there is an obvious, visible tendency for good to be 'swallowed up' into God's will - morality disappears into obedience. <br /><br />This near-total replacement of morality by submission to revelation (as described by legitimate authority) can also be seen at certain times and places in the history of Christianity - and even in modern debates - in situations as different as certain conceptions of authority in the Roman Catholic Church, and in some Calvinistic strands of Protestantism.Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-65179752612586122692014-07-12T22:08:52.649+01:002014-07-12T22:08:52.649+01:00@ajb - It can matter a lot. For example the other ...@ajb - It can matter a lot. For example the other major monotheism firmly decided that whatever God does is good - <br /><br />http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/arthurian-torso-cs-lewis-on-charles.htmlBruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-28465391638609341512014-07-12T21:31:48.825+01:002014-07-12T21:31:48.825+01:00@WM re God and the right,
I wonder why this reall...@WM re God and the right,<br /><br />I wonder why this really matters, though.<br /><br />Is there such a thing as right action?<br /><br />If so, can God guide us in figuring out what it is?<br /><br />It seems to me those are the important questions - the question of whether Justice is in some sense constitutive of God's being (however we might understand that) seems not really directly applicable to everyday action.ajbhttp://makingsenseofchristianity.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-44864277850418089972014-07-12T20:43:16.679+01:002014-07-12T20:43:16.679+01:00@Anon - Thank you. I don't generally publish A...@Anon - Thank you. I don't generally publish Anonymous comments - so in future please could you sign them - with a pseudonym if you prefer. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-24026253471642072722014-07-12T19:38:50.844+01:002014-07-12T19:38:50.844+01:00Prof. Brandon Watson has been covering the major, ...Prof. Brandon Watson has been covering the major, minor and spurious Platonic Dialogues at his weblog, Siris, for the last few months.<br /><br />Each entry is done at an introductory level with a brief outline and exegesis, without too much hand-holding or academic clutter. <br /><br />That's not to say they are unscholarly - the full dialogues are linked and supplementary items are often posted on important, recurring or vivid characters or background settings and events, and due respect is given to textual and interpretive questions. But this is all done unobtrusively.<br /><br />Highly recommended. I have moved several as-yet-unread dialogues up my reading list. I am kicking myself particularly for putting off Critias - a mark of a good introduction.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-81258355924044298462014-07-12T19:03:33.149+01:002014-07-12T19:03:33.149+01:00@ajb - The British system of graduate education is...@ajb - The British system of graduate education is now pretty much the typical bureaucratic tickbox nonsense you find everywhere else in life. <br /><br />@WM - For a (theoretical) Mormon (such as myself) this is straightforward: God commands the right because it is the right. <br /><br />God is within the universe, and the universe contains pre-existent matter/ stuff; and also is 'structured' (somehow) by the eternal 'laws' of truth, beauty, virtue etc. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-44505507184388387032014-07-12T18:40:04.375+01:002014-07-12T18:40:04.375+01:00Since you reference the Euthyphro, I'd be inte...Since you reference the Euthyphro, I'd be interested to know your own answer to one of the central questions of that dialogue. Does God command the right because it is the right, or is the right the right because God commands it?Wade McKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00505917422266320190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-51625496756383725612014-07-12T18:00:09.027+01:002014-07-12T18:00:09.027+01:00Right.
The only time one gets an unstructured, re...Right.<br /><br />The only time one gets an unstructured, relatively open-ended, one-to-few human communication of a testing kind in modern North American education is typically when defending a thesis or dissertation, as far as I can tell.ajbhttp://makingsenseofchristianity.comnoreply@blogger.com