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Can Western Monotheism Avoid Substance Dualism?
Research Articles
Can Western Monotheism Avoid Substance Dualism?
Research Articles
Can Western Monotheism Avoid Substance Dualism?

Abstract

The problem of divine agency and action is analogous to the problem of human agency and action: How is such agency possible in the absence of a dualistic causal interaction between disparate orders of being? This paper explores nondualistic accounts of divine agency that assert the following: (1) physical monism, (2) antireductionism, (3) physical realization, and (4) divine causal realism. I conclude that a robustly causal deity is incompatible with nonddualism's affirmation of physical monism. Specifically, I argue the incoherence of nondualistic strategies that advocate divine information transfer without energy transfer or the divine downward causation of physical events. Furthermore, I claim that the principle of explanatory exclusion makes any nondualistic, noninterventionist account of divine agency highly dubious. Finally, I suggest that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam can avoid a causally inert deity only if they are willing to deny the current presumption of the causal closure of the physical.

Keywords

nondualism, divineagency, reductionism, supervenience, principle ofexplanatory exclusion, top‐down causality, downward causation

How to Cite

Bielfeldt, D., (2001) “Can Western Monotheism Avoid Substance Dualism?”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 36(1), 153–177. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/0591-2385.00345

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© 2024 The Author(s).

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Authors

Dennis Bielfeldt (Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science)

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Issue

  • Volume 36 • Issue 1 • March 2001

Publication details

Pages 153–177
Published on 2001-03-01

Licence

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Identifiers

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/0591-2385.00345

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  • PDF: 9b88b625eebd77c71d84f15e4db46c1c
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