* Note: This series is from the book (There is a God: How the World's Most Powerful Atheist Changed His Thoughts?) For more please check out the book. A return to wisdom for my new position on classical philosophical debates about the existence of God. I was completely convinced by the argument...
Intellectual Pilgrimage: Excerpts from Anthony Flew's Intellectual Journey (3)
* Note: This series is from the book (There is a God: How the World's Most Powerful One Changed His Thoughts?) For more see the book.
Back to wisdom.
For my new position on classical philosophical debates about the existence of God. I was convinced more than any other argument by the philosopher David Conway in his book The Rediscovery of Wisdom: From Here to Antiquity in Quest of ’Sophia’i. Conway, the distinguished British philosopher, who studied at Middles.
To sum up, Aristotle attributed the following qualities to the self to which he entrusts the explanation of the existence and origin of the world and its vast structure: constancy, immateriality, fluency of ability, fluency of science, oneness or indivisibility, perfect goodness, and necessary existence. There is a curious correspondence between this set of attributes, and those attributed to the divinity in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Hence, as Conway, the god of monotheistic religions, sees the same qualities as Aristotle. In his book, Conway attempts to defend what he describes as the "classical conception of philosophy." This conception holds that "the interpretation and reasoning of the genesis of existence and its vast extended structure is due to the super-ability of an intelligent self – omnipotent, omniscient – to create.
It must be stressed that my discovery of God was only on the level of nature, without reference to any supernatural phenomena. It was the realization and application of what he calls “natural theology.” It had nothing to do with the revealed religions. I do not claim to have any personal experience with God, or any experience that might be in violation of the laws of nature or some miracle.
1. David Conway, The Rediscovery of Wisdom (London: Macmillan, 2000), 74.
2. Conway, The Rediscovery of Wisdom, 2–3.
- Anthony Flew.
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Source: Brahin Center website - Posted on 2018-01-22 (archived at the Internet Archive)
https://braheen.com/articles/philosophy/حج-فكري-مقتطفات-من-رحلة-أنتوني-فلو-الفكرية-3