Why The One Did Not Remain Within Itself

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Type: 
Budapest colloquium talks
Audience: 
Open to the Public
Building: 
Nador u. 15
Room: 
103
Thursday, October 25, 2018 - 5:30pm
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Date: 
Thursday, October 25, 2018 - 5:30pm to 7:00pm

In a fascinating forthcoming article, Mark Johnston adapts Plotinus’s ancient question to the question of why God (classically conceived) would create anything at all. As Johnson shows, the question forces us to grapple with such challenging matters as infinite and incommensurate value, the consistency of ‘arbitrary' choice and perfect practical rationality, and the Principle of Sufficient Reason. I find Johnston’s discussion insightful but incomplete in important ways. After saying why, I attempt to improve upon it.