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Does the Universe Exist Because It Ought To? A Critique of Extreme Axiarchism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2010

Roland Puccetti
Roland Puccetti
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University
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Extract

If axiarchism is the theory that the world is ruled by value, extreme axiarchism is the theory that some set of ethical needs is itself creatively powerful (Mackie 1982). Both views go back to Plato's claim in The Republic that the Form of the Good gives us knowledge and creative energy on analogy with the sun giving us vision without itself acting in the world. Insofar as this way of thinking obviates the need for a creative God, extreme axiarchism is a rival to traditional theism; if there is a God he was called into existence by virtue of his ethical requiredness.

Type
Articles
Information
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , Volume 32 , Issue 4 , Fall 1993 , pp. 651 - 658
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 1993

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