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Topic: Omnipotence paradox

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	Omnipotence (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
		Paradoxically, it appears that however this question is answered, an omnipotent agent turns out not to be all-powerful.
		Consequently, a satisfactory analysis of omnipotence ought not to require that an omnipotent agent have the power to bring about (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), or (f), if it is assumed, arguendo, in the case of (f), that libertarianism is true.
		The basic idea of this account of omnipotence is that an agent is omnipotent just when he can actualize any state of affairs that it is possible for someone to actualize, except for certain “counterfactuals of freedom”, their consequents, and certain states of affairs that are “accidentally impossible” because of the past.
	plato.stanford.edu /entries/omnipotence (5929 words)

	Omnipotence paradox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The omnipotence paradox is a philosophical paradox which arises when attempting to apply logic to the notion of an omnipotent being.
		In addition, several philosophers have considered the assumption that a being is either omnipotent or non-omnipotent to be a false dilemma, as it neglects the possibility of varying degrees of omnipotence (Haeckel).
		Often, the paradox is formulated in terms of the God of the Abrahamic religions, though this is not a requirement.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Omnipotence_paradox (2518 words)

	Paradoks - Wikipedia
		Elevator paradox: Elevators can seem to be mostly going in one direction, as if they were being manufactured in the middle of the building and being disassembled on the roof and basement.
		Supplee's paradox: the buoyancy of a relativistic object (such as a bullet) appears to change when the reference frame is changed from one in which the bullet is at rest to one in which the fluid is at rest
		Epicurean paradox, or Problem of evil: The existence of evil is incompatible with the existence of an omnipotent and caring God.
	id.wikipedia.org /wiki/Paradoks (2216 words)

	Paradox
		A paradox is a statement that seems to lead to a logical self-contradiction, or to a situation that contradicts common intuition.
		The identification of a paradox based on seemingly simple and reasonable concepts has often led to significant advances in science, philosophy and mathematics.
		Abilene paradox: People take actions in contradiction to what they really want to do, and therefore defeat the very purposes of what they were trying to accomplish.
	www.ebroadcast.com.au /lookup/encyclopedia/pa/Paradox.html (607 words)

	Talk:Omnipotence paradox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Thus, Christianity does not posit a being that is omnipotent in the sense that the Omnipotence Paradox questions and therefore it is irrelevant to the question of the existence of the Christian God.
		Depending how one interprets the problem, it might be another instance of the omnipotence paradox, but one that is far more convulted than the rock example, which is already itself a poor example, chosen on the strength of historical prevalence.
		An omnipotent being must also be able to limit its own omnipotence, temporary or permanently (since it could anything), yet by being able to do so, its omnipotence would have limits (since it could be limited), and an omnipotence with limits cannot exist, since it would not be omnipotence.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Talk:Omnipotence_paradox (1936 words)

	THIS ARTICLE HAS NO FOOTNOTES[n. 1] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Indeed, this particular paradox cannot be resolved at all even by meta-level analysis because no matter how removed one becomes, the core is the same--the statement asserts a proposition about itself that cannot be judged from outside the statement any better than from within the confines of the statement itself.
		Though Russell's paradox is concerned with the truth or falsity of a statement, it is not the statement that is referring to itself that is the problem, it is the undecidability from within a system of whether something is in or outside of a set.
		The paradox arises because the title and the footnote cannot both be true, and, as long as the observer stays just within the system of the two assertions that refer to each other, one cannot tell which is true.
	www.law.howard.edu /faculty/pages/jamar/scholarship/logiclawrfra.html (11746 words)

	Wikinfo \| Paradox
		A paradox is an apparently true statement that seems to lead to a logical self-contradiction, or to a situation that contradicts common intuition.
		For example, the Birthday paradox is more of a surprise than a paradox, while the resolution of Curry's paradox is still a matter of contention.
		Elevator paradox: Elevators can seem to be mostly going in one direction, as if they were being manufactured on the roof, and disassembled in the basement.
	www.wikinfo.org /wiki.php?title=Paradox (1402 words)

	Talk:Omnipotence paradox/Archive01 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Anville, the "paradox" "is a rather Aristotelian way of looking at it" because the paradox was recognized in the era of Aristotelian logic and perpetuated to the present because of its simplicity.
		Given that this "paradox" is just as subject to bivalent parsing as any other proposition, as 65.114.23.4 implies above, this "paradox" is really only a paradox for those who reject the principle of bivalence because the strict definition of an omnipotent being is illogical under that principle.
		Assuming that omnipotent being can improve itself or change the laws of nature (well, is it omnipotent or what?) at a point in time then whatever is "true" at one moment does no longer need to hold for long.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Talk:Omnipotence_paradox/Archive01 (7024 words)

	Philosophy of Religion .info - Arguments for Atheism - Problems with Divine Omnipotence - Omnipotence and Logically ...
		The paradox of omnipotence presents the theist with the question “Can God create a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it?” This question, it is argued, cannot be answered in a way that is consistent with God’s omnipotence.
		Omnipotence, though, does not entail the ability to bring about logically impossible states of affairs, and God’s omnipotence is therefore consistent with his being unable to create such a rock.
		The theistic response to the paradox of omnipotence based on the idea that omnipotence is limited by logical possibility rests on the claim that it is logically impossible to create a rock so heavy that God cannot lift it.
	www.philosophyofreligion.info /impossiblerock.html (579 words)

	Apologetics.com Discussion Board: OmniWhat?! (omnipotence paradox inc.) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Of course omnipotence is nonsense, but let’s say that an omnipotent one existed, and that he accidentally created such a rock.
		Defining "omnipotence" abstractly as the ability to "do anything," where "anything" includes the self-contradictory, absurd, meaningless, and even the immoral, is one of the oldest anti-theistic tricks in the book.
		You say that one of them is less than truly omnipotent, while some people argue that the version which you think is the true omnipotence is a meaningless extension of what they think is the true conception (a conception which you think is only semi-omnipotent).
	www.apologetics.com /forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=28403&an=0&page=37 (2154 words)

	WIBTW - Omnipotence
		The purpose of the paradox is to determine whether or not the concept is coherent.
		Swinburne says the second attempt to solve the paradox is to assert that the inability of God to create a stone he cannot cause to rise is not a limitation.
		Since the traditional definition of omnipotence is incoherent, it would seem to be in the best interest of philosophical theology to abandon both this definition of God's omnipotence and the idea of his being infinite at all.
	members.shaw.ca /wibtw/articles/omnipotence.htm (3602 words)

	Omnipotence Paradox - SkepticWiki (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		The omnipotence paradox, usually stated in some such form as "Can God make a stone so heavy that he can't lift it?" purports to demonstrate the impossibility of an omnipotent God by showing him to be a contradiction in terms.
		Thus, most regard the "omnipotence paradox" as a strawman argument, at least for the purpose of demonstrating the impossibility of an omnipotent God, since it depends on a definition of "omnipotence" which no one actually claims God to possess.
		One resolution to the omnipotence paradox is to define omnipotence with respect to existing challenges.
	www.skepticwiki.org /wiki/index.php/Omnipotence_Paradox (640 words)

	The Omnipotence Argument - Page 3 - Advent Children.forums (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Saying that an omnipotent being is omnipotent because he cannot be* not omnipotent is repeating the statement again, except in the converse; saying that he cannot be not omnipotent is equivalent to saying he is omnipotent.
		That paradox was easily born out of logic that any mathematician could see; you just proceed to call it as theology because theologians are the only ones silly enough to think they could criticize the paradox.
		I'm staying with the omnipotence paradox because it is logical, and not one of those theologians have found a convincing argument that is either logical or clear cut to disprove the paradox.
	forums.adventchildren.net /showthread.php?p=2858512 (3547 words)

	The Omnipotence Paradox (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		If it can, then it is not omnipotent thereby violating our premise that the being is all-powerful; if it cannot, then it is again not omnipotent.
		If we regard constitutional amending clauses as legally omnipotent, on the evidence that they are the supreme rules of change in their respective systems, then we have replicated the theological version of the paradox of omnipotence.
		If we do not regard amending clauses as legally omnipotent, then some irrevocable limitation on their power must exist; for if all limitations on it were revocable, some power would be legally omnipotent.
	www.geocities.com /CapitolHill/Lobby/3022/omni.html (257 words)

	When is deductive logic ok to use in religious discussions? - Sean Hannity Discussion (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Either the answer is no, and there is something the omnipotent being can't do, or the answer is yes and the being itself can create a circumstance with which it is incapable of dealing.
		There is a paradox inherent in the attribute of omnipotence.
		The paradox itself is the result of a facile premise.
	www.hannity.com /forum/showthread.php?t=3594 (1561 words)

	Philosophy of Religion .info - Arguments for Atheism - Problems with Divine Omnipotence
		The argument that the concept of omnipotence is paradoxical is best introduced by presenting the theist with a dilemma.
		One response the paradox of omnipotence is to attempt to dissolve the problem.
		The most common theistic response to the problem, however, rests on the thought that omnipotence is limited by logical possibility.
	www.philosophyofreligion.info /omnipotence.html (473 words)

	Mark's Paradox Page
		For this article, we define a paradox as a statement or sentiment that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true in fact.
		One of the oldest paradoxes is the one cited by the Apostle Paul in his letter to Titus (see above.) The Liar Paradox is interesting because it cannot be true because it would make the speaker a liar and therefore what he says is false.
		Closely related to the Liar Paradox and the Jourdain Truth-Value Paradox are prediction paradoxes such as the Unexpected Exam.
	www.geocities.com /CapitolHill/Lobby/3022 (1434 words)

	Problems With Divine Omnipotence
		Omnipotence is a part of the concept of deity; God, if he exists, is omnipotent.
		It is sometimes argued, however, that the concept of omnipotence is paradoxical, logically incoherent, and so that it is logically impossible that there be any being that is omnipotent.
		An omnipotent being, it is suggested, is one that can bring about any logically possible state of affairs.
	www.spiritofchennai.com /religion/re/omnipotence.htm (410 words)

	Mark's Paradox Page
		For this article, we define a paradox as a statement or sentiment that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true in fact.
		Omnipotence Paradox, legal scholars have debated whether or not a constitution can be non-paradoxically amended.
		paradox, believes that a purple cow actually does slightly increase the probability that all crows are fl.
	instruct.westvalley.edu /lafave/Paradoxes.html (1411 words)

	Encyclopedia Uselessia -- Omnipotence Paradox
		The omnipotence paradox is an apparent contradiction in the notion of an omnipotent (all-powerful) being (such as God, or Superman, or the government).
		The philosopher Averroes advanced the omnipotence paradox for this reason (for which he was condemned by Bishop Tempier), although instead of phrasing it in terms of stones, he asked whether God could create a triangle whose internal angles did not add up to 180 degrees.
		To assume [wrongly] that an omnipotent [all-powerful] being is also limitless in ability is not only moving the proverbial goal posts, it is specifically setting up a false straw man to argue upon, by saying they [power and ability] go together when there is no logical or rational basis for this assumption.
	www.greatplay.net /uselessia/articles/omnipyparadox.html (1394 words)

	The Paradox of the Stone
		Descartes’ understanding of omnipotence therefore doesn’t seem to be vulnerable to the paradox of the stone.
		Aquinas’ understanding of omnipotence, which is more popular than that of Descartes, also survives the paradox of the stone.
		The paradox of the stone, then, can be resolved; it fails to show that there is an incoherence in the theistic conception of God, and so fails to demonstrate that God does not exist.
	www.existence-of-god.com /paradox-of-the-stone.html (721 words)

	Does God exist? - Page 11 - Advent Children.forums (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		And I've already explained that their definition of omnipotence is flawed if they think it has anything to do with God not creating a stone he can't lift rather than being able to create a stone he can't lift.
		The paradox can be resolved by simply stipulating that omnipotence does not require the being to have abilities which are logically impossible, but only to be able to do anything which conforms to the laws of logic.
		The omnipotent being is essentially omnipotent, and therefore it is impossible for it to be non-omnipotent.
	forums.adventchildren.net /showthread.php?p=2810866 (5337 words)

	Noesis #46
		Newcomb's paradox was invented, and granted importance, precisely because it is a compact, meaningful formulation of the scientific imperative.
		This is a "paradox", and to resolve it, we must modify R. Call this modification, or "theoretical advance", R'.
		Hoeflin concludes: "Ergo, the paradox proposes an essentially unsolvable problem, given the present state of our physical science." There is a difference between giving a precise, detailed solution for a problem, and showing that a solution must exist.
	megasociety.com /noesis/46 (6076 words)

	uconnchurch.com: BLOG: Does God Exist? (We're Back!)
		Omnipotence is not defined by any ability to do the impossible, but rather the ability to actualize all that is possible.
		I'll agree to those definitions and concede that God's omnipotence is not challenged by his inability to draw a square circle.
		Because the stone example shows the paradox of omnipotence, I don't think, makes it a bad argument, but rather shows the inocoherence of the idea of omnipotence (which we have agreed is an essential attribute of God).
	www.spcc-storrs.org /blog/archives/2005/10/does_god_exist_2.php (3659 words)

	Ephilosopher :: General Philosophy Forum :: Omnipotence vs Knowledge (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Omnipotence paradoxes relate to especially to our theories of a priori knowledge in that how one responds to them has implications for one's stance on the role of reason in relation to our {possible} knowledge of God.
		Omnipotence paradoxes typically involve an implicitly (sometimes explicitly) self-contradictory and subjunctive description of a state of affairs.
		Now lets suppose that God (for the sake of the paradox God is all knowing but not all powerful) was one of the drivers and the other driver was a mere mortal.
	www.ephilosopher.com /phpBB_14-action-viewtopic-topic-4893.html (1582 words)

	God's Omnipotence and the Paradox of the Stone « Blogio Ex Nihilo
		The paradox derived from God’s omnipotence is interesting in the same way that other such linguistic paradoxes are interesting, but it says more about language and logic, I think, than about God.
		This paradox is obviously quizzing and causes a level of contradiction, and for that reason I assert that it is decently committing a fallacy (ie.
		If God is omnipotent and omniscient, then God would be able to use his omniscient and omnipotent abilities to achieve a state of absolute perfection.
	oohlah.wordpress.com /2007/01/15/gods-omnipotence-and-the-paradox-of-the-stone (3765 words)

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