Against the aloneness argument

Ryan Mullins and Joseph Schmid have recently advanced what they dub the "aloneness argument" against divine simplicity. Their argument assumes both that God is omniscient and is free not to create, and they deduce from these (and some other allegedly plausible premises) that divine simplic...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Huls, Jacob (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2025
In: International journal for philosophy of religion
Year: 2025, Volume: 97, Issue: 3, Pages: 199-212
Further subjects:B Divine Simplicity
B philosophy of religion
B Christian Philosophy
B Naturalism
B Classical Theism
B Religious Pluralism
B Divine Attributes
B Secularism
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Ryan Mullins and Joseph Schmid have recently advanced what they dub the "aloneness argument" against divine simplicity. Their argument assumes both that God is omniscient and is free not to create, and they deduce from these (and some other allegedly plausible premises) that divine simplicity is false. In this paper, I respond to their argument. I begin by summarizing a recent characterization of divine simplicity proffered by Eleonore Stump, and then I explain Mullins’s and Schmid’s aloneness argument against divine simplicity. In the next section, I argue that one of the premises of the aloneness argument is plausibly false if divine simplicity is true, and so the aloneness argument faces a dire dialectical issue. Finally, I answer some potential criticisms of my response.
ISSN:1572-8684
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal for philosophy of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s11153-025-09948-2