Logic & Relativity
Critic:-
The only way of reaching truth is through Logic. But the concept of God as presents Logical problems.
He cannot be omnipotent if He cannot flout the Laws of Logic. He cannot create something that is too great for Him to lift or more powerful than Himself. He cannot kill Himself. He cannot be unjust, and cannot lie. And so on.
A Muslim:-
Customarily, broadly logical limits are not taken to be infringements upon Allah's omnipotence, since something that is broadly logically impossible is not really a thing at all. Thus, it is no diminution of God's omnipotence to deny that he can make a stone too heavy for him to lift, for a "stone too heavy for him to lift" is as logically impossible, just as "a round triangle" and thus describes nothing at all."
Critic:-
I do not understand why that is not an example of a limit on God's power. I would think that if the description above explains Allah's omnipotence, it would mean that His omnipotence entails that what Allah can do is LIMITED to that which is possible.
Comment:-
This pseudo-problem has been answered before.
The following objections can be raised against Logic as understood since Aristotles time:- (1) Logic deals in words and man made rules which are not the same as reason and not the same as real things. (2) It creates Absolutes whereas things in the world we see are relative and conditional. (3) Axioms such as "Either A or not-A", "A is always A", "Not both A and not-A" are instructions how we should use words, not laws of existence. (4) We can define words any way we wish and they may be completely meaningless. (5) We can choose any concepts to construct logical premises in order to reach whatever conclusion we wish. It is motives that drive arguments. (6) The inference contains nothing that is not already in the premises. It produces no new knowledge but only makes explicit what is implicit. This is useful. (7) In order to advance knowledge we need two other non-logical faculties - for experience and for insight. There are certainly a range of things between white and not-white. Note, for instance, the results of Quantum Theory where a photon can be both a particle and a wave. Knowledge advances by inspiration that perceives patterns by which Theories and techniques are constructed.
Logic refers to the medium of communication and is created by Natural Reason, which is above Logic and much more than it. Several different systems can be created. Reason refers to the created world. The Creator is above that which He creates. Allah is above reason, which is above Logic.
To talk of square triangles is nonsense because we define the word "triangle" as something having three sides. Therefore, the word "square", defined as having four sides, contradicts the word "Triangle".
When we speak of "immovable objects" meeting "irresistible forces" we are using phrases that have relative meanings. Something is immovable with respect to some force. And a force is irresistible with respect to some object. These words do not have absolute meanings but refer to what is within our experience. They do not apply to God, but only to His creations. In the same way the words "heavy" and "lift" are understood relative to each other. They apply to the created world, not to Allah.
To say that Allah has created the World with all the objects in it is to say that He has created a World of Relativity where each object has limits that make it distinct from others that are also limited. But they are all related and interconnected because they derive from, and still remain, One. That is why we can distinguish one thing from another but also see the connection between them.
All our knowledge is relative - i.e. it comes from comparisons and observation of relationships between limited things.
But note: If all knowledge is relative, then Relativity itself must be understood relative to something. This gives us the notion of the Absolute, and therefore, also of God, Who creates the Relative World.
Unfortunately, not everyone comprehends this.
Critic:-
I am more than willing to accept the proposition that Allah is not bound or limited by logic as Muslims affirm. I am also more than willing to accept the proposition that Allah cannot transcend logic as many people also affirm. But I cannot accept both at the same time, as they seem to clearly contradict one another.
Comment:-
This is rather Schizophrenic.
The solution, however, is fairly simple if you stop thinking of Logic as if it were a Law of the Universe.
We could say that the following is true about Nature:-
"A" has a relationship B" with "C" under condition "D".
A system of Logic based on this is much more compatible with Islam. "D" also contains an unknown factor "X" which is incorporated in the formula "Inshallah". It stands for some unpredictable factor and our ignorance.
We also use words not in abstraction but as referring to things. In so far as real things can change and are variable then the word stands for something that can have a range of connotations and denotations. It is not precise. In fact the more precise it is the more does it stand for something unreal.
Reason can be regarded as Analogical thinking (Qias). This implies that we compare things and finds the similarities and differences, which is natural way of learning. Then we apply the Law of Justice, which is also a mental Law. This can be stated as follows: All similars should be treated similarly and differences should be treated proportional to their differences.
It is similarities that enable us to construct concepts and classes. When we find that some property "P" that applies to one member "c1" of the class "C", then we expect that it will apply to all members of the class. The more often we notice this the more probable this will be. However, things even in a class are different. It is not, therefore, certain that it will apply. We have to consider also the number of times it does not apply. The members of a class may have characteristics that are the same as those of members of other classes. "P" does not, therefore, cover the same field as "C" and the two overlap.
It is not difficult to see that Allah the Creator transcends Reason because Reason applies to the created world, the one we see and recognise because it has regularities. In this recognisable created world Allah has confined Himself to Reason. This does not limit Him.
The phrases "can not" or "must" imply that it is "necessarily so", but this is mere speculation. This notion of determinism is also connected with Aristotelian Logic where the inference follows necessarily from the premises. We reject this. One could say "does not" or "does" such and such, but even this goes beyond knowledge, as we cannot possibly know all instances of something. Unless, of course, one simply defines "world" as that which conforms to reason and ignore that does not meet that definition. If then we find something that does not conform, e.g. the photon of light, then we simply define it as belonging to some other non-created class of things. This is merely playing with words.
All this not overwhelmingly difficult to understanding.
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