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Divine Ideas for Metaphysical Realism Michelle Lynn Panchuk University of South Carolina

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Divine Ideas for Metaphysical Realism Michelle Lynn Panchuk University of South Carolina University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations 6-30-2016 Divine Ideas for Metaphysical Realism Michelle Lynn Panchuk University of South Carolina Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Panchuk, M. L.(2016). Divine Ideas for Metaphysical Realism. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ etd/3365 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Divine Ideas for Metaphysical Realism by Michelle Lynn Panchuk Bachelor of Arts Columbia International University, 2007 Master of Arts University of South Carolina, 2013 ____________________________________________________ Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy College of Arts and Sciences University of South Carolina 2016 Accepted By: Christopher Tollefsen, Major Professor Jeremiah Hackett, Committee Member George Khushf, Committee Member Christina Van Dyke, Committee Member Lacy Ford, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies © Copyright by Michelle Lynn Panchuk, 2016 All Rights Reserved. ii Dedication To the band of ragamuffins whose love, friendship, and support gave me the courage I needed. And to the memory of George MacDonald, whose words help me continue to believe that the God of whom I write is, indeed, The Good. iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank the participants at the 2011 Meeting of the Society of Ancient Greek Philosophy, the 2013 Eastern Regional Meeting of the Society of Christian Philosophers, the 2014 South Carolina Society of Philosophy, and the 2015 Classical Theism Workshop at St. Thomas University for their suggestions for, and critique of, various portions of this project. A special thanks goes to Craig Bacon, Michael Dickson, Glenn Gentry, Jeremiah Hackett, George Khushf, and Christina Van Dyke whose detailed and insightful comments on various sections have contributed greatly to the quality of this work. I owe a significant debt of gratitude to Christopher Tollefsen for his support and oversight of the project. His perceptive, suggestions, and criticisms of (many) drafts have shaped and developed my thinking on these issues in important ways, and his support has greatly exceeded what any graduate student could expect of a dissertation director. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Yuriy Panchuk, for his encouragement, his patience, and his undertaking of more than his fair share of household and childcare duties throughout the course of my work. iv Abstract In recent years more and more theist philosophers have turned their attention to an apparent tension between the existence of abstract universals and the God of classical monotheisms. In this project I argue that this tension can be relieved by adopting a Neo- Augustinian account of universals. When the doctrine of creation ex nihilo is given sufficient place within one’s theory, divine concepts can do all of the work for which abstract universals are usually posited. Over the course of 5 chapters, I argue that the problem of universals, at base, requires a theory of properties as its solution; that my theory of universals is well grounded within the medieval tradition; that divine concepts can account for property exemplification, attribute agreement, abstract reference, and subject-predicate discourse; and that a solution to the notorious “bootstrapping problem” is available if one accepts the doctrine of divine simplicity. I conclude with some remarks on the epistemic theories that one might adopt if one is inclined to accept my account of universals v Table of Contents Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Abstract ............................................................................................................................... v Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: The Problem of Universals and the Theist ........................................................ 5 I. What is the Problem of Universals? ............................................................................ 6 II. Theological Considerations ...................................................................................... 18 III. Theological Implications of a Theory of Universals .............................................. 22 IV. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 41 Chapter 2: God and Abstract Objects: The Contemporary Landscape ............................. 43 I. Neo-Augustinian Approaches.................................................................................... 46 II. Platonic Theism ........................................................................................................ 54 III. Theistic Nominalism ............................................................................................... 66 IV. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 75 Chapter 3: God in the Medieval Debates on Universals ................................................... 77 I. Identifying the problem ............................................................................................. 78 II. The Philosophers Speak ........................................................................................... 81 vi III. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 109 Chapter 4: A Case for Theistic Conceptual Realism about Universal ............................ 111 I. TCR as a Theory of Universals ............................................................................... 112 II. The Phenomena Explored ...................................................................................... 120 III. Questions Answered ............................................................................................. 137 IV. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 145 Chapter 5: TCR and the Divine Nature ........................................................................... 147 II. God and the PCG.................................................................................................... 149 III. The Simple Multiplicity of Divine Ideas .............................................................. 168 V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 172 Conclusion: TCR and the Limits of Human Knowledge ................................................ 174 I. Semantic Fictionalism ............................................................................................. 175 II. Cooperative Epistemologies ................................................................................... 176 III. Semantic Dualism and Metaphysical Realism ...................................................... 177 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 180 Appendix A: Permission to Reprint ................................................................................ 187 vii Introduction In my hand I hold a red mug (a delightfully steamy cup of earl grey, if you care to know). On my desk I can see a jar that holds two red pens. There is a range of philosophically interesting questions we could ask about these three objects. For example, what is it that makes each of them individually red? What is it that grounds the truth of my assertion that they are red? What is it that makes it true that all three of them are the same color? As I contemplate these questions, I might also entertain the proposition that ‘Redness is a color.’ What could it be that makes that thought true? Our attempts to answer these questions engage us in the long and noble tradition of contemplating what has often been called the problem of universals. And it is to this tradition that the present project contributes. If we answer the questions posed above by saying that each of the three objects has its own unique redness—either as a non-material constituent of the whole or in virtue of its physical make-up—then we are probably nominalists (or perhaps fictionalists). If, on the other hand, we want to claim that there is one thing distinct from the material parts of the cup and pens—let’s call it ‘redness’—that makes all of them red and to which we refer when we say that redness is a color, then we are realists about universals, and we may believe in the existence of abstract objects. Personally, I am inclined to think that there must be something separate from all of the particulars, by standing in relation to which, particulars have the character that they 1 do. By most accounts, this makes me a Platonist about universals and, by extension, a Platonist about abstract objects. Abstract objects are commonly understood to be
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