Philosophy for the People Thomism vs. Scotism w/ Dr. Gaven Kerr and Dr. Tom Ward
Jan 24, 2023
Joining the conversation are Dr. Gaven Kerr, a Thomism expert and author of 'Aquinas's Way to God', and Dr. Tom Ward, a Scotism aficionado known for 'Ordered by Love'. They engage in a fascinating debate over causality and divine influence, with Kerr and Ward sparring over essential and grounding dependence. They animate the philosophical discourse on individuality using quirky examples like a Furby. The duo also explores various arguments for God’s existence and the implications of their contrasting perspectives on contemporary philosophical thought.
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Simultaneity in Causal Series
- Scotus introduces a simultaneity condition for essentially ordered causal series, requiring causes to act simultaneously for the series' causality.
- Aquinas's view doesn't require simultaneity, allowing causality in the series to be derived and non-simultaneous.
Omnipotence and Essential Dependence
- Scotus posits that God's omnipotence allows any secondary cause to be bypassed by God causing effects immediately.
- This challenges the claim that creatures are essentially dependent on secondary causes rather than God.
Scotus's Logic of Essential Dependence
- Scotus differentiates essential order of eminence and of dependence; essential dependence means the posterior's existence contradicts the absence of the prior.
- This logical characterization extends Aristotle's existence-based notion of essential dependence.