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Full Idea
All the attributes of God signify our inability and defect of power to conceive any thing concerning his nature.
Gist of Idea
The attributes of God just show our inability to conceive his nature
Source
Thomas Hobbes (The Elements of Law [1640], I.10.2), quoted by Richard Tuck - Hobbes Ch.2
Book Ref
Tuck,Richard: 'Hobbes: a very short introduction' [OUP 2002], p.89
A Reaction
Presumably he means that 'omnipotence' should just be translated as 'mind-boggling power'. St Anselm's concept of God (Idea 1405) is helpful here, placing it at the upper limit of what can actually be conceived.
Related Idea
| 7396 | Hobbes created English-language philosophy [Hobbes, by Tuck] |
| 7408 | It is an error that reason should control the passions, which give right guidance on their own [Hobbes, by Tuck] |
| 7410 | Self-preservation is basic, and people judge differently about that, implying ethical relativism [Hobbes, by Tuck] |
| 7409 | Hobbes shifted from talk of 'the good' to talk of 'rights' [Hobbes, by Tuck] |
| 7411 | The attributes of God just show our inability to conceive his nature [Hobbes] |
| 16688 | Evidence is conception, which is imagination, which proceeds from the senses [Hobbes] |
| 16638 | The qualities of the world are mere appearances; reality is the motions which cause them [Hobbes] |
| 7405 | Experience can't prove universal truths [Hobbes] |
| 7407 | Good and evil are what please us; goodness and badness the powers causing them [Hobbes] |