God is in possession of all knowledge. — Bartricks
even if I also have lots of false beliefs and fail to have lots of true ones, I will not fail to qualify as omniscient — Bartricks
I think there can be two readings of omniscience. — Kuro
Hm. An omniscient being that knows all there is to know yet "fails to have many true beliefs". Sounds a bit iffy to me. — Outlander
Omniscience means 'all knowledge'. If - as many contemporary theists foolishly do - one defines it to mean 'all truth beliefs' then one is simply misusing a term (for one can be in possession of all true beliefs and yet not be in possession of all knowledge). Certainly it is no abuse of the term 'omniscience' to use it to label someone who is in possession of all knowledge. — Bartricks
But in fact you swapped my definition of omniscience for another. To be omniscient is to be in possession of all actual knowledge, not all possible knowledge. — Bartricks
This is just etymologically branded linguistic prescriptivism. Regardless, I already granted your analysis as you pointed out — Kuro
I made the most charitable interpretation. If you truly mean 'all of actual knowledge' by omniscience then this is an awfully trivial definition wholly divorced from what anyone means by 'omniscient', since, I, like many other living people, know everything that I actually know, which has virtually nothing to do with knowing everything that is knowable (which was my initial charitable interpretation) let alone knowing every truth (what most theists think). This just prima facie renders anyone that knows anything to be omniscient, since they know everything they actually know. — Kuro
It's not at all charitable and you've ignored what I said. It is not charitable to attribute to someone a view they did not express and furthermore a view that doesn't make sense.
I'll simply repeat what I said: to be in possession of all trees does not require being in possession of all potential trees. LIkewise, to be in possession of all knowledge dose not require being in possession of all potential knowledge. We're all potential murderers - should we all be locked up for actual murder?
And my definition of omniscience is clearly not trivial. How is it trivial? — Bartricks
Apologies.↪Yohan I do not understand what you mean. I am saying that I cannot seem to rule out - not categorically- that I may have the properties of omnipotence, omniscience and omnibenevolence. And thus I cannot completely rule out that I am God. I do not see how what you have said engages in any way with the case I made. — Bartricks
After all, my arguments apply to us all, and there are billions of us and only one God, so the odds are at least billions to one. — Bartricks
I've defined God as an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent person. Omnipresence is not a God-making property and seems positively incompatible with omnibenevolence as it would mean God watches us shower.
An omnipotent being has the ability to be omnipresent, but they would not exercise it. — Bartricks
It's not a God making property. If I am omnipresent it does not follow that I am God, nor does a lack of it imply i am not God. Any number of persons can be omnipresent, but there is only one God and so on.
If you want you can insist that having red hair is the God making, but then you are simply using the term God to denote red headed people and are not using it as I am. — Bartricks
Yes, my definition of God entails that. That's why I said right at the outset that by God I mean an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent person. It follows that to qualify as God you need those properties and that having those properties makes one God. All you needed to do was read my OP. — Bartricks
It's not a God making property. If I am omnipresent it does not follow that I am God, nor does a lack of it imply i am not God. Any number of persons can be omnipresent, but there is only one God and so on. — Bartricks
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.