GREAT MINDS THINK (ALMOST) ALIKE THOMAS AQUINAS AND ALVIN PLANTINGA ON DIVINE ACTION IN NATURE

2014 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Silva
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Alvin Plantinga ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Universe

In the first part of this paper I argue that even if at first Alvin Plantinga’s reasons for allowing special divine action seem similar to those of Thomas Aquinas, particularly in De Potentia Dei for allowing miracles, the difference in their metaphysical language makes Aquinas’ account less prone to the objections raised against Plantinga’s. In the second part I argue that Plantinga errs when recurring to quantum mechanics for allowing special divine action, making God to be a cause among causes. Thomas Aquinas, by speaking of primary and secondary causality when referring to God’s activity, avoids taking this step, evading the conclusion that God could be seen as a cause among causes. Aquinas, however, maintains in a statement which goes beyond Plantinga’s, that God’s providence requires the universe to be indeterministic because this indeterministic feature makes the universe more perfect.

Karl Barth's ecclesiology reconsidered

2004 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas M. Healy
Keyword(s):  
Karl Barth ◽  
The Other ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Universe

The essay begins by noting some of the things Karl Barth might have said to defend himself against Stanley Hauerwas's criticisms, in the otherwise largely appreciative discussion in With the Grain of the Universe, of Barth's anthropology and pneumatology and the consequent problems in his ecclesiology. I then discuss some issues that Barth himself might have wanted to raise with regard to Hauerwas's own ecclesiology, especially in reference to its comparative lack of emphasis upon divine action and the difference that makes to an account of the church's witness. I argue that Barth and Hauerwas differ to some degree in their understanding of the gospel and of Christianity, with Hauerwas emphasizing rather more than Barth the necessity and centrality of the church's work in the economy of salvation. Barth, on the other hand, sees the need rather more than Hauerwas of situating the church's activity within a well-rounded account of the work of the Word and the Spirit. I offer some concluding remarks to suggest that this particular aspect of Barth's ecclesiology is worth preserving as an effective way of responding to modernity.

scholarly journals A Cause Among Causes? God Acting in the Natural World

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 99-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Silva
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Laws Of Nature ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
Interpretations Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Secondary Causes

Contemporary debates on divine action tend to focus on finding a space in nature where there would be no natural causes, where nature offers indeterminacy, openness, and potentiality, to place God’s action. These places are found through the natural sciences, in particular quantum mechanics. God’s action is then located in those ontological ‘causal-gaps’ offered by certain interpretations of quantum mechanics. In this view, God would determine what is left underdetermined in nature without disrupting the laws of nature. These contemporary proposals evidence at least two unexamined assumptions, which frame the discussion in such a way that they portray God as acting as a secondary cause or a ‘cause among causes’. God is somewhat required to act within these ‘gaps’, binding God to the laws of nature, and placing God’s action at the level of secondary causes. I suggest that understanding God’s action, following Thomas Aquinas, in terms of primary and secondary causation could help dissolve this difficulty. Aquinas moves away from this objection by suggesting to speak of an analogical notion of cause, allowing for an analogical understanding of God’s causality in nature. With a radically different understanding of the interplay between secondary causes and God, Aquinas manages to avoid conceiving God as a cause among causes, keeping the distinctive transcendent character of God’s causality safe from objections.

scholarly journals Gravity, Entanglement and Spin Possible Timeless State of the Universe

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Farag Ali
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Entanglement ◽  
Inertial Frame ◽  
Quantum Particle ◽  
Black Hole Entropy ◽  
Geometric Interpretation ◽  
Speed Of Light ◽  
Problem Of Time ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Universe

I localize gravity to match its measurements with the local inertial frame of special relativity. I find a geometric interpretation of the speed of light and mass. I find also a relation between every mass measured and the black hole entropy which introduces information-matter equation from gravity. Through localization of gravity, a timeless state of the universe emerges and the uncertainty principle does not hold since the velocity concept is replaced by distance in this timeless state. This would resolve the problem of time because timeless state of the universe emerges naturally and mathematically consistent. This would suggest that gravity form the hidden one variable of quantum mechanics which would complete the relation between quantum mechanics and gravity. The experimental evidence of timeless state of the universe is the quantum entanglement. Since the spin measurement is the manifestation of quantum entanglement. Therefore, the spin of quantum particle can be originated from geometrical or gravitational red-shift. We introduce also a principle of least computation which is achieved when the ratio equal to the difference in the process of local gravitational measurements.

scholarly journals Gravity as the Hidden Variable of Quantum Mechanics: Information-Matter Equation from Gravity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Farag Ali
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Inertial Frame ◽  
Black Hole Entropy ◽  
Geometric Interpretation ◽  
Speed Of Light ◽  
Problem Of Time ◽  
Hidden Variable ◽  
Local Inertial Frame ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Universe

I localize gravity to match its measurements with the local inertial frame of special relativity. I find a geometric interpretation of the speed of light and mass. I find also the relation between every mass measured and the black hole entropy which introduce information-matter equation from gravity. Through localization of gravity, a timeless state of the universe emerges and the uncertainty principle does not hold since the velocity concept is replaced by distance. This would resolve the problem of time because timeless state of the universe emerges naturally and mathematically consistent. This would suggest that gravity form the hidden one variable of quantum mechanics which would complete the relation between quantum mechanics and gravity. We introduce also a principle of least computation which is achieved when the ratio equal to the difference in the process of local gravitational measurements.

scholarly journals IMPLICATIONS OF A QUANTUM MECHANICAL TREATMENT OF THE UNIVERSE

1998 ◽  
Vol 13 (05) ◽  
pp. 347-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
MURAT ÖZER
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Wave Packet ◽  
Early Universe ◽  
Mechanical Treatment ◽  
Correspondence Principle ◽  
Scale Factor ◽  
Quantum Mechanical ◽  
Quantum Mechanical Treatment ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
The Universe

We attempt to treat the very early Universe according to quantum mechanics. Identifying the scale factor of the Universe with the width of the wave packet associated with it, we show that there cannot be an initial singularity and that the Universe expands. Invoking the correspondence principle, we obtain the scale factor of the Universe and demonstrate that the causality problem of the standard model is solved.

scholarly journals Investigating the properties of a galaxy group at z = 0.6

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (S359) ◽  
pp. 188-189
Author(s):  
Daniela Hiromi Okido ◽  
Cristina Furlanetto ◽  
Marina Trevisan ◽  
Mônica Tergolina
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
The Other ◽  
Numerical Density ◽  
Spectroscopy Data ◽  
Stellar Kinematics ◽  
Galaxy Groups ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Universe

AbstractGalaxy groups offer an important perspective on how the large-scale structure of the Universe has formed and evolved, being great laboratories to study the impact of the environment on the evolution of galaxies. We aim to investigate the properties of a galaxy group that is gravitationally lensing HELMS18, a submillimeter galaxy at z = 2.39. We obtained multi-object spectroscopy data using Gemini-GMOS to investigate the stellar kinematics of the central galaxies, determine its members and obtain the mass, radius and the numerical density profile of this group. Our final goal is to build a complete description of this galaxy group. In this work we present an analysis of its two central galaxies: one is an active galaxy with z = 0.59852 ± 0.00007, while the other is a passive galaxy with z = 0.6027 ± 0.0002. Furthermore, the difference between the redshifts obtained using emission and absorption lines indicates an outflow of gas with velocity v = 278.0 ± 34.3 km/s relative to the galaxy.

scholarly journals From the Universe to Subsystems: Why Quantum Mechanics Appears More Stochastic than Classical Mechanics

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (03) ◽  
pp. 1640002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Oldofredi ◽  
Dustin Lazarovici ◽  
Dirk-André Deckert ◽  
Michael Esfeld
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Classical Mechanics ◽  
Bohmian Quantum Mechanics ◽  
The Universe

By means of the examples of classical and Bohmian quantum mechanics, we illustrate the well-known ideas of Boltzmann as to how one gets from laws defined for the universe as a whole the dynamical relations describing the evolution of subsystems. We explain how probabilities enter into this process, what quantum and classical probabilities have in common and where exactly their difference lies.

COMMENT ON "ANGULAR SIZE TEST ON THE EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE," BY M. LÓPEZ-CORREDOIRA

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (06) ◽  
pp. 1167-1169 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. KHOKHLOV
Keyword(s):  
Angular Size ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Expansion Of The Universe ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Universe

The results of the angular size test in the paper under comment are at variance with those for compact radio sources. The possible reason for the difference between the two results is discussed.

Twelfth-century Cosmography, theDe secretis philosophie, and Māshā'allāh (Attr. to),Liber de Orbe

Traditio ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 235-276
Author(s):  
Barbara Obrist
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Lunar Eclipse ◽  
Latin Text ◽  
Central Section ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Manchester ◽  
The Universe

TheLiber de orbe, attributed to Māshā'allāh (fl. 762–ca. 815) in the list of Gerard of Cremona's translations, stands out as one of the few identifiable sources for the indirect knowledge of Peripatetic physics and cosmology at the very time Aristotle's works on natural philosophy themselves were translated into Latin, from the 1130s onward. This physics is expounded in an opening series of chapters on the bodily constitution of the universe, while the central section of the treatise covers astronomical subjects, and the remaining parts deal with meteorology and the vegetal realm. Assuming that Gerard of Cremona's translation of theLiber de orbecorresponds to the twenty-seven chapter version that circulated especially during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it was, however, not this version, but a forty-chapter expansion thereof that became influential as early as the 1140s. It may have originated in Spain, as indicated, among others, by a reference to the difference of visibility of a lunar eclipse between Spain and Mecca. Unlike the twenty-seven chapterLiber de orbe, this expanded and also partly modified text remains in manuscript, and none of the three copies known so far gives a title or mentions Māshā'allāh as an author. Instead, the thirteenth-century witness that is now in New York attributes the work to an Alcantarus:Explicit liber Alcantari Caldeorum philosophi. While no Arabic original of the twenty-seven chapterLiber de orbehas come to light yet, Taro Mimura of the University of Manchester recently identified a manuscript that partly corresponds to the forty-chapter Latin text, as well as a shorter version thereof.

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