Question:
I have two questions pertaining to God and logical absolutes/axioms. I truly hope you can help. First, logical absolutes exist. They are not physical, but they do not seem to be conceptual either, like logic. They seem to be the thing that logic is contingent upon. But if they are not physical, and not conceptual, then it’s difficult to classify their nature. For example… if consciousness did not exist the universe would still be here. Carbon atoms would still be carbon atoms. This is the law of identity. Something is what it is. But I don’t know how the law is accounted for. It doesn’t seem contingent on anything, not even on God, for he cannot violate these laws himself! Sorry if this was long, but I really want to clarify my questions. Here are my questions. How do we classify logical abolutes in their essence (what are they: properties, laws, of what? ) and how is God above all things, yet not above these laws?
Answer: I do not question whether or not logical absolutes exist, although I am sure you know that many philosophers do question this. Given that it is debatable (at least according to some) whether logical absolutes even exist as a real “thing,” it clearly can be a bit on thin ice to come up with a definite answer to your question. Nevertheless, I will do what little I can, remembering that I am not a PhD Philosopher. These logical absolutes are something like a-priori truth or Kant’s hard-wired knowledge which he believes are in a 1 to 1 correspondence with the world as it actually is. You say the law of identity is not contingent on anything—not even on God. This is an assumption. I do not know how one can prove such a thing. Besides, I can think of some logical absolutes which I believe only exist because God’s creation made them logical absolutes. Take the idea of time. Time is like an arrow. Time determines the meaning of cause and effect. Time is, I think, a logical absolute. Life precedes death. Yet, if I understand the big bang theory correctly, before our universe existed, not only did space not exist, time itself did not exist. God created time and at least in a sense he created the absolute, or at least he created the universe within which this absolute exists. Outside of a created universe, I believe time does not have the absolute meaning it has for us. The same applies to your carbon atom example. If God had not created the universe, carbon atoms would not have existed, and it is really questionable that the idea “carbon atom” even means anything outside a universe like ours which has the requisite properties for carbon atoms to exist. To be honest, I do not personally really care how you classify logical absolutes. This is a philosophical not a theological question. I believe that God is not subject to these absolutes, or at least not to all of them. In fact it is his creation which created these logical absolutes in the first place. I will stick to this idea until you can give me an example of a logical absolute to which God is subject. You give no examples in your question. So, since the question is one of philosophy, not of theology, I feel perfectly comfortable letting you produce your own definition and list of logical absolutes. Perhaps you can consult a systematic philosophy for that definition. Like I already said, unless you can show a compelling argument for a specific logical absolute to which God must submit, I do not feel compelled to respond to your logical argument. John Oakes
