Zain's Guide to Overthinking Everything

  Enlightenment Political Philosophy: Thomas Hobbes vs. John Locke vs. Rousseau Beginning with Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), he was in favor of governmental absolutism. He argued this through his social contract theory. Social contract theory tries to prove the legitimacy of government by explaining why people should give up their freedom. The burden of proof is on the state to show why people should obey rather than live naturally. According to Hobbes, human psychology is fundamentally driven by desire for pleasure and aversion from pain. Furthermore, morally what we call good is what gives pleasure and what we call bad is what causes pain. Yet, he also recognized that individuals each had their own pleasures and pains which can be distinct from others. The things that people sought, he called “passions” and thus life becomes the pursuit of passion. The means to achieve one’s passion is done through reason, which is calculated by looking at the pros and cons of the method of achiev...

Ibn Taymiyyah's Critique of Polytheism In the seminal work Dalail Tawhid al-Rububiyah , Ibn Taymiyyah embarks on a rigorous intellectual journey, dissecting and critiquing the very foundations of polytheism. Ibn Taymiyyah’s argument against polytheism, or the idea of multiple all-powerful Gods is as follows: If there exists two equal creators of the world, they must be equally powerful or have power to create. Furthermore, they must be either powerful on their own or powerful only with the other. Ibn Taymiyyah explains that the latter option is an impossibility because if neither has power when existing on their own then either something occurs when they exist together that does not occur when each is on their own or nothing occurs. The first possibility is impossible as,  “If some power that does not exist when each marker is on his own occurs when both are existing together, this power will either occur from the two makers themselves or occur from another. But both are impossible...

  Is God Always the Creator?: Exploring Divine Attributes Has God always been The Creator? This question arose in my mind while reading Dr. William Lane Craig’s book, Time and Eternity: Exploring God’s Relationship to Time , as on page 88 he states,  “Thomas agrees with premise (3). On his view, relations between God and creatures, such as God’s being Lord over the world, first began to exist at the moment at which creatures come into being.” The context of this quote was whether God is temporal or timeless. Craig argues that since the beginning of creation, God is temporal as creating necessitates new relations that He previously did not have. An extrinsic change within God necessitates temporality. However, my inquiry is regarding whether God is “Lord over the world” regardless if creation exists. Surely, all rational souls agree that God is Lord when creation exists but how about before? Some argue that God became a creator as soon as He created and thus some attributes of ...

  Thomistic Divine Simplicity: A God in Time? Discussions about the nature of God and time have intrigued theologians and philosophers for centuries, with various viewpoints shaping our understanding of the divine. One such perspective, deeply rooted in the thought of Thomas Aquinas, is the doctrine of divine simplicity. According to the doctrine of divine simplicity, there is no composition or change in God’s essence. For example, we may understand God to have the attributes of being merciful or loving or omnipotent, however these attributes are identical to each other and identical to His essence, according to Thomas Aquinas. The distinction between these attributes arrive from our mental conception of them as it is only a virtual not a formal distinction. In other words, God is a pure and eternal act of existence. This is not the only view of divine simplicity, for example both the Sunni Athari and Catholic Franciscan traditions hold that God’s attributes are truly distinct wit...

Unveiling the Divine: Duns Scotus vs Aquinas on God’s Attributes Discussions about the nature of God have captivated the minds of scholars, theologians, and philosophers for centuries. One perspective is that of John Duns Scotus, a medieval thinker whose ideas on the attributes of God have set him apart from many of his contemporaries, including the renowned Thomas Aquinas. In this blog post, heavily inspired by Jake Brancatella ’ s dialogue on the subject, we will delve into Duns Scotus' intriguing beliefs about God's attributes, examining how they diverge from Aquinas' understanding. Duns Scotus believed that God has real attributes that are not identical to each other nor to His essence yet they are inseparable from each other and the essence. They are not free floating entities apart from God. God cannot exist without them nor can they exist without God. At least in the Sunni Athari position, when it is said that God cannot exist without His attribute and His attributes...

  Notes on the Basics of Nietzsche Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th-century German philosopher, is known for his radical and thought-provoking ideas that continue to influence modern philosophy. In this blog post, we will explore the fundamental concepts of Nietzsche's philosophy. Nietzsche constructed a genealogy for morality that is upheld in modern society. The initial form of morality was set by a warrior aristocracy and other ruling castes of ancient civilizations. Aristocratic values of good and bad coincided with their relationship to lower classes. Thus the moral values were that of strength and power. He believed that those who lacked power and authority resented those who held it, leading to a moral inversion. This inversion resulted in a society where once-weak qualities became virtues, and attributes of strength and pride were deemed immoral. This is known as the “Slave Revolt in Morality”. He believed that those who were historically powerless i.e slaves, such as the Jews a...