Omnipotence paradox

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==Other paradoxes==
 
==Other paradoxes==
 
[[File:FLS_7-22-09.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<small>© [http://www.farleftside.com Mike Stanfill</small>]]]
 
[[File:FLS_7-22-09.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<small>© [http://www.farleftside.com Mike Stanfill</small>]]]
Some have suggested that the concept of any [[paradox]] presents a challenge to the concept of omnipotence.  For example, the thirteenth century [[theology|theologian]] Thomas Aquinas pondered whether God could create a triangle in which the angles do not add up to 180 degrees. Or similarly, could God create a flat circle where [[Guide_to_Kings#Pi_.26_the_Molten_Sea|π = 3]]? To do so would be to create a shape which cannot possibly exist in our universe - such a triangle can only exist on a curved surface and even warping space to do so is still placing the object on a curved surface. Yet if God ''cannot'' do so, then his powers must be ''limited'' by the laws of [[mathematics]], and therefore he could not be fully omnipotent. This can be further complicated by asking ''"Can an omnipotent being create a triangle with four sides?''" The issue here is that an object with four sides ceases to be a triangle and becomes a quadrangle - naturally, an omnipotent being could just rig up human language so that a four sided object was called "a triangle". For the purposes of the paradox, however, this is cheating; the aim is for the being to create a three sided object with four sides, ''without'' resorting to semantic trickery (which practically anyone can do).
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Some have suggested that the concept of any [[paradox]] presents a challenge to the concept of omnipotence.  For example, the thirteenth century [[theology|theologian]] Thomas Aquinas pondered whether God could create a triangle (on a flat surface) in which the angles do not add up to 180 degrees. Or similarly, could God create a flat circle where [[Guide_to_Kings#Pi_.26_the_Molten_Sea|π = 3]]? To do so would be to create a shape which cannot possibly exist in our universe - such a triangle can only exist on a curved surface and even warping space to do so is still placing the object on a curved surface. Yet if God ''cannot'' do so, then his powers must be ''limited'' by the laws of [[mathematics]], and therefore he could not be fully omnipotent. This can be further complicated by asking ''"Can an omnipotent being create a triangle with four sides?''" The issue here is that an object with four sides ceases to be a triangle and becomes a quadrangle - naturally, an omnipotent being could just rig up human language so that a four sided object was called "a triangle". For the purposes of the paradox, however, this is cheating; the aim is for the being to create a three sided object with four sides, ''without'' resorting to semantic trickery (which practically anyone can do).
  
 
Paradoxes do not necessarily have to ask for strange forces (like unmovable and unstoppable) and strange physics. Omnipotence can equally be limited by non-contradictory but very plain examples. For example consider an individual making the statement: "God cannot make me love him with my own free will". God could "miracle" some love in someone, but that wouldn't be an act of free will. God could torture someone until he "loved him", but similarly, that would be an act of force, morally indistinct that a criminal torturing someone in order to make them say something. God could argue that "he does not need X's love", however this would not remove the original problem that this represents a case where a mere mortal individual can limit God's omnipotence.
 
Paradoxes do not necessarily have to ask for strange forces (like unmovable and unstoppable) and strange physics. Omnipotence can equally be limited by non-contradictory but very plain examples. For example consider an individual making the statement: "God cannot make me love him with my own free will". God could "miracle" some love in someone, but that wouldn't be an act of free will. God could torture someone until he "loved him", but similarly, that would be an act of force, morally indistinct that a criminal torturing someone in order to make them say something. God could argue that "he does not need X's love", however this would not remove the original problem that this represents a case where a mere mortal individual can limit God's omnipotence.

Revision as of 08:52, 12 July 2011

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Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot that he himself could not eat it?
—Homer Simpson

The omnipotence paradox refers to various paradoxical situations regarding the abilities of an omnipotent being - i.e., God - which might undermine such a being's omnipotence.

Contents

The paradox

The paradox highlights cases where, in performing an action, an omnipotent being would be limiting its abilities (therefore rendering it very firmly not omnipotent); conversely if it was unable to perform such an action, it would also be proving itself not to be omnipotent. These logical contradictions have been pondered over for many years and often stump even great theologians, who usually just scream "does not apply" before running and hiding under the bed in case they disappear in a poof of logic. The paradox represents a reductio ad absurdum, with the conclusion that a truly omnipotent being cannot exist.

The most classic example of the paradox is the "paradox of the stone":

Can an omnipotent being create a stone so heavy that it cannot lift it?
  • If yes: the being has a weakness (being unable to lift the stone) and his power is limited, or becomes limited.
  • If no: the being's power is already limited, since there is an action he cannot perform.
  • Either way, the allegedly omnipotent being has proven not to be omnipotent due to the logical contradiction present in both possible answers.

The stone paradox can be substituted with similar examples. E.g. Could an omnipotent being create another being more powerful than itself? Could an omnipotent being destroy itself? Could he create a wall he cannot climb? Could he beat himself at arm-wrestling? And so on. The situation crops up numerous times in different wordings but all mean the same thing.

Other paradoxes

Some have suggested that the concept of any paradox presents a challenge to the concept of omnipotence. For example, the thirteenth century theologian Thomas Aquinas pondered whether God could create a triangle (on a flat surface) in which the angles do not add up to 180 degrees. Or similarly, could God create a flat circle where π = 3? To do so would be to create a shape which cannot possibly exist in our universe - such a triangle can only exist on a curved surface and even warping space to do so is still placing the object on a curved surface. Yet if God cannot do so, then his powers must be limited by the laws of mathematics, and therefore he could not be fully omnipotent. This can be further complicated by asking "Can an omnipotent being create a triangle with four sides?" The issue here is that an object with four sides ceases to be a triangle and becomes a quadrangle - naturally, an omnipotent being could just rig up human language so that a four sided object was called "a triangle". For the purposes of the paradox, however, this is cheating; the aim is for the being to create a three sided object with four sides, without resorting to semantic trickery (which practically anyone can do).

Paradoxes do not necessarily have to ask for strange forces (like unmovable and unstoppable) and strange physics. Omnipotence can equally be limited by non-contradictory but very plain examples. For example consider an individual making the statement: "God cannot make me love him with my own free will". God could "miracle" some love in someone, but that wouldn't be an act of free will. God could torture someone until he "loved him", but similarly, that would be an act of force, morally indistinct that a criminal torturing someone in order to make them say something. God could argue that "he does not need X's love", however this would not remove the original problem that this represents a case where a mere mortal individual can limit God's omnipotence.

Responses

Definition of omnipotence

Most repudiations of the omnipotence paradox usually concern the definition of omnipotence, reducing it to merely an argument about semantics. These refutations assert that the paradox misrepresents omnipotence and the nature of God, as in their view, omnipotence is not necessarily bound by the laws of logic, physics or mathematics. Non-believers often have trouble grasping this idea, but those happy to accept that God is truly omnipotent regardless of what logic says have no trouble dealing with it. So, for example, when the empty mathematical logic of non-believers fails to apply the notion of absolute consistently to 'absolute power', 'absolute knowledge', and 'absolute love', the notion that omnipotence is not necessarily bound by logic takes on a certain attractiveness.

If the situations were really to occur

Another argument is that an omnipotent being does have every conceivable ability, including the ability to limit their own power (and hence stop being omnipotent). In this refutation, it is claimed that such a being is unlikely to make that move. Hence they could create a stone so heavy that they could not lift it; they just wouldn't. Although this removes the paradox from practice, it doesn't remove the concept of the paradox, as the paradox almost invariably asks could the being do such a thing, not would the being do such a thing.

This also ties in with the fact that the omnipotent being in question is usually "God", not only infinitely powerful but infinitely benevolent. Hypothetically, God could perform actions which would invalidate His omnipotence, but to do so would be highly out of character---unless, of course, we consistently apply the irrationally misconstrued notion of absolute to omnibenevolent as well, in which case God would not be out of character at all to simply make all criticisms of absolutely everyone’s beliefs to be well-founded on either ‘absolutely’ everything or absolutely nothing. And, then, to be all-knowing would mean knowing that all of this makes the best sense possible of such trivial things as power, knowledge, and love. Which is to say that, despite the fact that knowledge is a real kind of power (it causes your knowledge to increase in quality while causing mine to grow ever more trivial), an all-powerful being would not necessarily know anything (including knowing how anyone who knows things can have a confidence-of-reasoning which is so ill-founded).

Contradiction in the paradox itself

If the paradox is reworded slightly to the common variant of "what happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object?" then we can clearly spot a contradiction in the paradox itself, a similar problem to creating a four sided triangle as mentioned above. Namely, that if there is an unstoppable force, then there is no unmovable object, as if there was an unmovable object, there could be no unstoppable force. The two are therefore mutually exclusive in existence, and it is a logical contradiction for both to exist at the same time. However, applying this contradiction to the God-based forms of the paradox is difficult, as these revolve around the omnipotent being's ability to create. And of course, the question is then raised; can an omnipotent being break this logical dichotomy of unstoppable and unmovable?

Practical examples

EMACS can, in fact, create a core dump it cannot edit.

See also

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