Document Type
Article
Keywords
meta-theology, fundamentality, necessary existence, Avicenna, simplicity
Abstract
A meta-theology makes claims about the structure of theological claims: it identifies a single, fundamental claim about God, and shows how other theological claims are derivable from the fundamental claim. In his book Depicting Deity and other articles, Jon Kvanvig has identified three distinct meta-theologies: Creator Theology, Perfect Being Theology, and Worship-worthiness Theology. In this article, we argue that the medieval Islamic philosopher Avicenna's views about God have the structure of a meta-theology, and that it is distinct from the three projects Kvanvig identifies. This view is Necessary Existent Theology.
Publication Date
3-23-2023
Publication Title
Religious Studies
First Page
1
Last Page
15
Rights
CC-By This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412523000239
Recommended Citation
Ansari, Rosabel; Dunaway, Billy; and McGinnis, Jon, "Necessary Existent Theology" (2023). Philosophy Faculty Works. 15.
DOI: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412523000239
Available at:
https://irl.umsl.edu/philosophy-faculty/15