"Omniscient" redirects here. For the Brazilian Netflix series, see Omniscient (TV series).
"Cosmic Awareness" redirects here. Not to be confused with Cosmic Consciousness.
This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page.(August 2017)
The word omniscience derives from the Latin word sciens ("to know" or "conscious") and the prefix omni ("all" or "every"), but also means "all-seeing".
In religion
Buddhism
The topic of omniscience has been much debated in various Indian traditions, but no more so than by the Buddhists. After Dharmakirti's excursions into the subject of what constitutes a valid cognition, Śāntarakṣita and his student Kamalaśīla thoroughly investigated the subject in the Tattvasamgraha and its commentary the Panjika. The arguments in the text can be broadly grouped into four sections:
The refutation that cognitions, either perceived, inferred, or otherwise, can be used to refute omniscience.
A demonstration of the possibility of omniscience through apprehending the selfless universal nature of all knowables, by examining what it means to be ignorant and the nature of mind and awareness.
A demonstration of the total omniscience where all individual characteristics (svalaksana) are available to the omniscient being.
Some modern Christian theologians argue that God's omniscience is inherent rather than total, and that God chooses to limit his omniscience in order to preserve the free will and dignity of his creatures.[3]John Calvin, among other theologians of the 16th century, comfortable with the definition of God as being omniscient in the total sense, in order for worthy beings' abilities to choose freely, embraced the doctrine of predestination.[4]
Hinduism
In the Bhakti tradition of Vaishnavism, where Vishnu is worshipped as the supreme God, Vishnu is attributed with numerous qualities such as omniscience, energy, strength, lordship, vigour, and splendour.[5]
Islam
In Islam, God (Allah) is attributed with absolute omniscience. God knows the past, the present, and the future. It is compulsory for a Muslim to believe that God is indeed omniscient as stated in one of the six articles of faith which is:
To believe that God’s divine decree and predestination
Say: Do you instruct Allah about your religion? But Allah knows all that is in the heavens and on the earth; Allah is Knowing of all things
It is believed that humans can only change their predestination (wealth, health, deed etc.) and not divine decree (date of birth, date of death, family etc.), thus allowing free will.
In Jainism, omniscience is considered the highest type of perception. In the words of a Jain scholar, "The perfect manifestation of the innate nature of the self, arising on the complete annihilation of the obstructive veils, is called omniscience."[6]
Jainism views infinite knowledge as an inherent capability of every soul. Arihanta is the word used by Jains to refer to those human beings who have conquered all inner passions (like attachment, greed, pride, anger) and possess Kevala Jnana (infinite knowledge). They are said to be of two kinds:[7]
Sāmānya kevali – omniscient beings (Kevalins) who are concerned with their own liberation.
Tirthankara kevali – human beings who attain omniscience and then help others to achieve the same.[7]
Whether omniscience, particularly regarding the choices that a human will make, is compatible with free will has been debated by theologians and philosophers. The argument that divine foreknowledge is not compatible with free will is known as theological fatalism. It is argued that if humans are free to choose between alternatives, God could not know what this choice will be.[8]
A question arises: if an omniscient entity knows everything, even about its own decisions in the future, does it therefore forbid any free will to that entity? William Lane Craig states that the question subdivides into two:
If God foreknows the occurrence of some event E, does E happen necessarily?[9]
If some event E is contingent, how can God foreknow E’s occurrence?[10]
However, this kind of argument fails to recognize its use of the modal fallacy. It is possible to show that the first premise of arguments like these is fallacious.[11][12]
Omniscience and the privacy of conscious experience
Some philosophers, such as Patrick Grim, Linda Zagzebski, Stephan Torre, and William Mander have discussed the issue of whether the apparent exclusively first-person nature of conscious experience is compatible with God's omniscience. There is a strong sense in which conscious experience is private, meaning that no outside observer can gain knowledge of what it is like to be me as me. If a subject cannot know what it is like to be another subject in an objective manner, the question is whether that limitation applies to God as well. If it does, then God cannot be said to be omniscient since there is then a form of knowledge that God lacks access to.
The philosopher Patrick Grim[13] most notably raised this issue. Linda Zagzebski[14] argued against this by introducing the notion of perfect empathy, a proposed relation that God can have to subjects that would allow God to have perfect knowledge of their conscious experience. William Mander[15] argued that God can only have such knowledge if our experiences are part of God's broader experience. Stephan Torre[16] claimed that God can have such knowledge if self-knowledge involves the ascription of properties, either to oneself or to others.
^Viney, Donald Wayne (Spring 1989). . Process Studies. 18 (1): 30–37. doi:10.5840/process198918130. S2CID 170638788. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
^. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
^Grim, Patrick (1985). "Against omniscience: The case from essential indexicals". Noûs. 19 (2): 151–180. doi:10.2307/2214928. JSTOR 2214928.
^Zagzebski, Linda Trinkaus (2013). Omnisubjectivity : a defense of a divine attribute. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ISBN9780874621839. OCLC 825106425.
^Mander, William (2000). "Does God know what it is like to be me?". Heythrop Journal. 43 (4): 430–443. doi:10.1111/1468-2265.00203.
^Torre, Stephan (2006). "De Se Knowledge and the Possibility of an Omniscient Being". Faith and Philosophy. 23 (2): 191–200. doi:10.5840/faithphil200623215.
Sources
Sangave, Vilas Adinath (2001), Aspects of Jaina religion (3 ed.), Bharatiya Jnanpith, ISBN978-81-263-0626-8
Mehta, Mohan Lal (1954), Outlines of Jaina Philosophy, Jain Mission Society (Original – the University of Michigan)[permanent dead link]
omniscience, album, swans, album, omniscient, redirects, here, brazilian, netflix, series, omniscient, series, cosmic, awareness, redirects, here, confused, with, cosmic, consciousness, this, article, unbalanced, towards, certain, viewpoints, please, improve, . For the album by Swans see Omniscience album Omniscient redirects here For the Brazilian Netflix series see Omniscient TV series Cosmic Awareness redirects here Not to be confused with Cosmic Consciousness This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints or discuss the issue on the talk page August 2017 Omniscience ɒ m ˈ n ɪ ʃ e n s 1 is the capacity to know everything In Hinduism Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions this is an attribute of God In Jainism omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain In Buddhism there are differing beliefs about omniscience among different schools Contents 1 Etymology 2 In religion 2 1 Buddhism 2 2 Christianity 2 3 Hinduism 2 4 Islam 2 5 Jainism 3 Omniscience and free will 4 Omniscience and the privacy of conscious experience 5 See also 6 References 7 Sources 8 External linksEtymology EditThe word omniscience derives from the Latin word sciens to know or conscious and the prefix omni all or every but also means all seeing In religion EditBuddhism Edit The topic of omniscience has been much debated in various Indian traditions but no more so than by the Buddhists After Dharmakirti s excursions into the subject of what constitutes a valid cognition Santarakṣita and his student Kamalasila thoroughly investigated the subject in the Tattvasamgraha and its commentary the Panjika The arguments in the text can be broadly grouped into four sections The refutation that cognitions either perceived inferred or otherwise can be used to refute omniscience A demonstration of the possibility of omniscience through apprehending the selfless universal nature of all knowables by examining what it means to be ignorant and the nature of mind and awareness A demonstration of the total omniscience where all individual characteristics svalaksana are available to the omniscient being The specific demonstration of Shakyamuni Buddha s non exclusive omniscience 2 Christianity Edit See also Attributes of God in Christianity Some modern Christian theologians argue that God s omniscience is inherent rather than total and that God chooses to limit his omniscience in order to preserve the free will and dignity of his creatures 3 John Calvin among other theologians of the 16th century comfortable with the definition of God as being omniscient in the total sense in order for worthy beings abilities to choose freely embraced the doctrine of predestination 4 Hinduism Edit In the Bhakti tradition of Vaishnavism where Vishnu is worshipped as the supreme God Vishnu is attributed with numerous qualities such as omniscience energy strength lordship vigour and splendour 5 Islam Edit In Islam God Allah is attributed with absolute omniscience God knows the past the present and the future It is compulsory for a Muslim to believe that God is indeed omniscient as stated in one of the six articles of faith which is To believe that God s divine decree and predestinationSay Do you instruct Allah about your religion But Allah knows all that is in the heavens and on the earth Allah is Knowing of all things Quran 49 16 It is believed that humans can only change their predestination wealth health deed etc and not divine decree date of birth date of death family etc thus allowing free will Jainism Edit Main article Kevala Jnana In Jainism omniscience is considered the highest type of perception In the words of a Jain scholar The perfect manifestation of the innate nature of the self arising on the complete annihilation of the obstructive veils is called omniscience 6 Jainism views infinite knowledge as an inherent capability of every soul Arihanta is the word used by Jains to refer to those human beings who have conquered all inner passions like attachment greed pride anger and possess Kevala Jnana infinite knowledge They are said to be of two kinds 7 Samanya kevali omniscient beings Kevalins who are concerned with their own liberation Tirthankara kevali human beings who attain omniscience and then help others to achieve the same 7 Omniscience and free will Edit Omniciencia mural by Jose Clemente Orozco See also Determinism Free will and Argument from free will Whether omniscience particularly regarding the choices that a human will make is compatible with free will has been debated by theologians and philosophers The argument that divine foreknowledge is not compatible with free will is known as theological fatalism It is argued that if humans are free to choose between alternatives God could not know what this choice will be 8 A question arises if an omniscient entity knows everything even about its own decisions in the future does it therefore forbid any free will to that entity William Lane Craig states that the question subdivides into two If God foreknows the occurrence of some event E does E happen necessarily 9 If some event E is contingent how can God foreknow E s occurrence 10 However this kind of argument fails to recognize its use of the modal fallacy It is possible to show that the first premise of arguments like these is fallacious 11 12 Omniscience and the privacy of conscious experience EditSome philosophers such as Patrick Grim Linda Zagzebski Stephan Torre and William Mander have discussed the issue of whether the apparent exclusively first person nature of conscious experience is compatible with God s omniscience There is a strong sense in which conscious experience is private meaning that no outside observer can gain knowledge of what it is like to be me as me If a subject cannot know what it is like to be another subject in an objective manner the question is whether that limitation applies to God as well If it does then God cannot be said to be omniscient since there is then a form of knowledge that God lacks access to The philosopher Patrick Grim 13 most notably raised this issue Linda Zagzebski 14 argued against this by introducing the notion of perfect empathy a proposed relation that God can have to subjects that would allow God to have perfect knowledge of their conscious experience William Mander 15 argued that God can only have such knowledge if our experiences are part of God s broader experience Stephan Torre 16 claimed that God can have such knowledge if self knowledge involves the ascription of properties either to oneself or to others See also EditEpistemology Omnibenevolence Omniscient point of view in writing is to know everything that can be known about a character Omnipotence Omnipresence Pantomath Self awarenessReferences Edit omniscience Oxford English Dictionary Online ed Oxford University Press Subscription or participating institution membership required McClintock Sara L 2010 Omniscience and the Rhetoric of Reason Wisdom Publications John Polkinghorne Science and Theology SPCK Fortress Press 1998 ISBN 0 8006 3153 6 Pike Nelson January 1965 Divine Omniscience and Voluntary Action The Philosophical Review 74 1 p 30 doi 10 2307 2183529 JSTOR 2183529 S2CID 170519806 Tapasyananda 1991 Bhakti Schools of Vedanta Madras Sri Ramakrishna Math ISBN 978 81 7120 226 3 Mehta 1954 p 99 a b Sangave 2001 p 16 Ron Barnette a Bright OMNISCIENCE AND FREEDOM Valdosta edu 1999 09 16 Archived from the original on 2012 04 22 Retrieved 2013 04 25 Purtill on Fatalism and Truth Faith and Philosophy 229 234 1990 Viney Donald Wayne Spring 1989 Does Omniscience Imply Foreknowledge Craig on Hartshorneby Process Studies 18 1 30 37 doi 10 5840 process198918130 S2CID 170638788 Archived from the original on 2 November 2011 Retrieved 5 October 2011 Foreknowledge and Free Will The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 12 June 2010 Archived from the original on 30 April 2018 Retrieved 3 May 2018 Swartz Norman 5 March 2011 The Modal Fallacy Simon Fraser University Archived from the original on 9 August 2017 Retrieved 3 May 2018 Grim Patrick 1985 Against omniscience The case from essential indexicals Nous 19 2 151 180 doi 10 2307 2214928 JSTOR 2214928 Zagzebski Linda Trinkaus 2013 Omnisubjectivity a defense of a divine attribute Milwaukee Wisconsin ISBN 9780874621839 OCLC 825106425 Mander William 2000 Does God know what it is like to be me Heythrop Journal 43 4 430 443 doi 10 1111 1468 2265 00203 Torre Stephan 2006 De Se Knowledge and the Possibility of an Omniscient Being Faith and Philosophy 23 2 191 200 doi 10 5840 faithphil200623215 Sources EditSangave Vilas Adinath 2001 Aspects of Jaina religion 3 ed Bharatiya Jnanpith ISBN 978 81 263 0626 8 Mehta Mohan Lal 1954 Outlines of Jaina Philosophy Jain Mission Society Original the University of Michigan permanent dead link External links EditWierenga Edward Omniscience In Zalta Edward N ed Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Omniscience and Divine Foreknowledge article in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Is God All Knowing Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Omniscience amp oldid 1140202258, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
