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A demonstration against theistic activism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1999

MATTHEW DAVIDSON
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53076

Abstract

Many theists have tried to work out coherent accounts of the relationship between God and abstract objects. Some have contended that abstracta depend on God for their existence and nature. Following Christopher Menzel and Thomas Morris, I call such a position, ‘theistic activism’. In this essay, I begin by examining some motivations for holding such a position. Then, I try to make sense of how abstract objects might depend on God. Finally, I object to theistic activism on the grounds that one who holds to it is committed to the claim that God causes himself to exist and causes himself to have such properties as omnipotence and omniscience.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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