Academia & Ecclesia

What does it mean for x to depend on y? {x depends on y if and only if [x could not have been actual or possible without y or (y causes the actuality of x or y causes the condition that makes x possible)]} For example, a thought A depends on a thinking thing B if and only if A could not have been actual or possible without B, or B causes the actuality of A or B causes the condition that makes A possible. Intuitively, it appears that a thought depends on a thinking thing. Let’s now consider the following claim: “morality depends on God”. With the term “morality,” I simply mean a principle or a system of principles that rational and impartial people recognize as binding to a rational and impartial agent (assuming that such principle or principles are relevant to the agent’s situation S), who is trying to determine what needs to be done in S, in order to avoid causing any significant and unnecessary harm to herself or another living creature. Let’s suppose that Bill, an extremely we

For a response to some aspects of Alvin Plantinga’s view on the relationship between science and Christian theism, see Hans Halvorson’s “Plantinga on Providence and Physics” [ http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/9491/1/plantinga.pdf ]. Halvorson, a respected philosopher of science from Princeton University, is qualified to evaluate Plantinga’s claims about such relationship. It appears to me that, like Plantinga, Halvorson is a Reformed Christian.