Omnisubjectivity - An Essay on God and Subjectivity

Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski here explains and defends the idea that the God of the monotheistic religions does not only know all objective facts, but he also perfectly grasps the conscious states of all conscious beings from their own point of view. She calls that property omnisubjectivity. God not only knows that you are in pain, for instance, but is present in your pain, grasping your pain the way you grasp it. The same point applies to every feeling, every belief, every thought, every desire you have. It also applies to the conscious states of animals.

Zagzebski begins with an account of what subjectivity is and why it differs from anything in the objective world, then argues that omnisubjectivity is entailed by divine omniscience and omnipresence, divine love and justice, and practices of prayer. She offers three models of how omnisubjectivity is possible: the empathy model, the perceptual model, and panentheism. She answers objections that it is incompatible with other attributes such as timelessness, immutability, impassibility, divine goodness, divine holiness, and infinity. She extends the account of omnisubjectivity to the divine grasp of possible but non-actual subjective states, arguing that God grasps all possible subjective states of all possible conscious beings in his imagination.

She then applies the conclusions of the book to the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Many arguments in the book apply to all the monotheistic religions and some arguments apply to monotheistic Hinduism. The book concludes with the claim that subjectivity is primary in the universe. God is intrinsically subjectivity and intersubjectivity. Objectivity is being from the outside viewpoint, and it exists only relative to the created world.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• Chapter 1 Subjectivity


• 1. The reality of subjectivity


• 2. The origin of the subjective/objective divide


• 3. The scope of subjectivity: consciousness in God and creatures


• 4. The importance of subjectivity


• Chapter 2 Why God Must be Omnisubjective


• 1. Introduction


• 2. Omniscience


• 3. Omnipresence


• 4. The practices of prayer


• 5. Divine love


• 6. Divine justice


• Chapter 3 How God Can be Omnisubjective


• 1. Introduction


• 2. The model of total empathy


• 3. The perceptual model


• 4. Panentheism


• 5. Creative consciousness


• Chapter 4 Objections from Other Attributes


• 1. Introduction


• 2. Timelessness and immutability


• 3. Impassibility


• 4. The moral objection and the holiness objection


• 5. Can an essentially infinite God grasp states of finite creatures?


• Chapter 5 Counteractual Subjectivity


• 1. Grasping counteractual subjectivity


• 2. The status of counteractual subjectivity


• 3. How does God grasp counteractual subjective states?


• 4. God's counteractual subjectivity


• Chapter 6 Divine Subjectivity and Intersubjectivity


• 1. The Trinity


• 2. Divine subjectivity and the problem of evil


• 3. The Incarnation


• 4. The Holy Spirit and divine-human intersubjectivity


• Chapter 7 Conclusion: The Primacy of Subjectivity


• 1. Being from the inside and from the outside


• 2. Intersubjectivity

Über den Autor / die Autorin

Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski is George Lynn Cross Research Professor Emerita and Kingfisher College Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics Emerita, University of Oklahoma. She is a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Zusammenfassung

Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski here explains and defends the idea that the God of the monotheistic religions does not only know all objective facts, but he also perfectly grasps the conscious states of all conscious beings from their own point of view. She calls that property omnisubjectivity. God not only knows that you are in pain, for instance, but is present in your pain, grasping your pain the way you grasp it. The same point applies to every feeling, every belief, every thought, every desire you have. It also applies to the conscious states of animals.

Zagzebski begins with an account of what subjectivity is and why it differs from anything in the objective world, then argues that omnisubjectivity is entailed by divine omniscience and omnipresence, divine love and justice, and practices of prayer. She offers three models of how omnisubjectivity is possible: the empathy model, the perceptual model, and panentheism. She answers objections that it is incompatible with other attributes such as timelessness, immutability, impassibility, divine goodness, divine holiness, and infinity. She extends the account of omnisubjectivity to the divine grasp of possible but non-actual subjective states, arguing that God grasps all possible subjective states of all possible conscious beings in his imagination.

She then applies the conclusions of the book to the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Many arguments in the book apply to all the monotheistic religions and some arguments apply to monotheistic Hinduism. The book concludes with the claim that subjectivity is primary in the universe. God is intrinsically subjectivity and intersubjectivity. Objectivity is being from the outside viewpoint, and it exists only relative to the created world.

Zusatztext

The historical significance of placing divine subjectivity at the forefront of God's knowledge of the world, as is done here by a master practitioner of analytic philosophy of religion.

Produktdetails

• Autoren: Zagzebski, Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski, Linda Trinkaus (Professor of Philosophy Zagzebski
• Verlag: Oxford University Press
• Sprache: Englisch
• Produktform: Fester Einband
• Erschienen: 11.10.2023
• EAN: 9780197682098
• ISBN: 978-0-19-768209-8
• Seiten: 224
• Themen: Sachbuch > Philosophie, Religion > Philosophie: Allgemeines, Nachschlagewerke; PHILOSOPHY / Metaphysics, RELIGION / Theology, Theology, Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology, Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology