TY - JOUR AU - Schmid, Joseph Conrad PY - 2021/12/29 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Simply Unsuccessful: The Neo-Platonic Proof of God’s Existence JF - European Journal for Philosophy of Religion JA - EJPR VL - 13 IS - 4 SE - Research Articles DO - 10.24204/ejpr.2021.3412 UR - https://philosophy-of-religion.eu/index.php/ejpr/article/view/3412 SP - AB - <p><span>Edward Feser defends the ‘Neo-Platonic proof’ for the existence of the God of classical theism. After articulating the argument and a number of preliminaries, I first argue that premise three of Feser’s argument – the causal principle that every composite object requires a sustaining efficient cause to combine its parts – is both unjustified and dialectically ill-situated. I then argue that the Neo-Platonic proof fails to deliver the mindedness of the absolutely simple being and instead militates against its mindedness. Finally, I uncover two tensions between Trinitarianism and the Neo-Platonic proof and one tension between the Neo-Platonic proof (and, more generally, classical theism) and the incarnation.</span></p> ER -