Thursday, May 31, 2007

Thrice necessary!

So help me out here by posting a comment at the bottom of this post or by creating a new one. Am I headed in the right direction?

1. Metaphysical necessity is the infallible certainty between the things signified by the subject and predicate of a proposition, which affirms something to be true [p. 19].
e.g. "God exists" or "All bachelors are unmarried men"

2. Moral Necessity is the certain connection between the preference of the soul [inclination] and its acting on that preference [the will itself].
e.g. A man who is a glutton will act in accordance with his soul's inclination. He may eat 2 half gallons of Breyers peach ice cream for lunch.

3. Natural Necessity is the certainty as men are under through the force of natural causes as distinguished from moral inclinations [dispositions of the heart].
e.g. Men feel pain when their bodies are wounded.

This seems to be a helpful article on necessity [philosphical/theological].

http://www.history-of-philosophy.com/necessity.htm

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