Anselm of Canterbury on the fall of the devil: the hard problem, the harder problem, and a new formal model of the first sin

Wood, William

doi:10.1017/s0034412515000098

Cited by 2 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Recall that the hard problem's dilemma consists in the fact that either ‘Satan's desires, dispositions and motivations causally determine his will, and therefore necessitate his sinful choice’, or they do not. Since Satan has two affections and is thus ‘free to choose which one to follow’, the first horn can be rejected (Wood (2016), 229) 7 . But the consequences originally posed by the second horn need not be faced.…”

Section: Anselm's Solution To the Hard Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…. Every consumer has an infinite array of indifference curves, and will always prefer a higher indifference curve to a lower’ (Wood (2016), 233). This can be most easily demonstrated in Figure 2.…”

Section: Modelling Satan's Sin On the Consumer Preference Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…. by continuing to consume at A’ instead of obeying God and consuming at A* (Wood (2016), 240) 15 . Accordingly, Satan's choice is subjectively rational according to the consumer preference model, and the harder problem seems thereby solved.…”

Section: Modelling Satan's Sin On the Consumer Preference Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…And ‘since “higher” [inverted] indifference curves are available to him’, Satan ultimately wills at F2 on IC 4. It is at this point that Satan consumes only FG and thus is ‘utterly depraved’ as the tradition has held (Wood (2016), 241–243).

Fig.…”

Section: Problems With Explaining Satan's Sin By the Consumer Preferementioning

confidence: 99%

“…. from Satan's own point of view’ (Wood (2016), 224). Wood claims that previous attempts to explain the devil's first sin have addressed only the hard problem.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The ‘harder problem’ of the devil's fall is still a problem: a reply to Wood

Barnwell

2016

Rel. Stud.

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William Wood has importantly distinguished between a ‘hard problem’ and a ‘harder problem’ in explaining the devil's fall. He points out that previous attempts to explain Satan's sin have focused only on the former and cleverly argues that consumer preference theory, when applied to Anselm's account of Satan's sin, can solve the latter. In this article, I demonstrate that Wood's solution (i) undermines itself, (ii) fails to absolve God of the charge of being tyrannical, (iii) surreptitiously reintroduces the harder problem, and (iv) eventually collapses back into the initial hard problem. I conclude by suggesting why one might nonetheless be motivated to distinguish between the two problems and what this implies about a belief in the devil's fall.

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Section: Anselm's Solution To the Hard Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modelling Satan's Sin On the Consumer Preference Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modelling Satan's Sin On the Consumer Preference Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fig.…”

Section: Problems With Explaining Satan's Sin By the Consumer Preferementioning

confidence: 99%

“…. from Satan's own point of view’ (Wood (2016), 224). Wood claims that previous attempts to explain the devil's first sin have addressed only the hard problem.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The ‘harder problem’ of the devil's fall is still a problem: a reply to Wood

Barnwell

2016

Rel. Stud.

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The Primigenius Felix Culpa

Cawdron

2020

The Heythrop Journal

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The primal sin is an unprecedented event because it is the moment at which creation first became corrupted. This makes it remarkably difficult to explain. In contemporary analytic discussions of the primal sin, a dichotomy has emerged. Generally, scholars working in this area accept inexplicability to avoid blaming God, resulting in a labelling of the primal sin as mysterious. In this paper, I will outline a Felix Culpa model of the primal sin, which I shall call the Primigenius Felix Culpa model. Through this model, I will suggest that the primal sin was made inevitable by God to maximise the value of the actual world. I will argue that, despite inheriting many of the disadvantages that come with a Felix Culpa, this model significantly reduces the inexplicability of the primal sin.

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Anselm of Canterbury on the fall of the devil: the hard problem, the harder problem, and a new formal model of the first sin

Cited by 2 publications

References 7 publications

The ‘harder problem’ of the devil's fall is still a problem: a reply to Wood

The ‘harder problem’ of the devil's fall is still a problem: a reply to Wood

The Primigenius Felix Culpa

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