List: Again, according to Peirce, "God" is a *unique *proper name by virtue of being *definable*--exactly one dynamical object, "that which would Really be in any possible state of things whatever" (R 339:[295r], 1908), satisfies its definition as *Ens necessarium*, "Really creator of all three Universes of Experience" (CP 6.452, EP 2:434, 1908). That being the case, what does he mean when he states that "'God' is a vernacular word and, like all such words, but more than almost any, is *vague*"? He goes on to explain.
CSP: No words are so well understood as vernacular words, in one way; yet they are invariably vague; and of many of them it is true that, let the logician do his best to substitute precise equivalents in their places, still the vernacular words alone, for all their vagueness, answer the principal purposes. This is emphatically the case with the very vague word "God," which is not made less vague by saying that it imports "infinity," etc., since those attributes are at least as vague. (CP 6.494, c. 1906) As I have been saying all along, for Peirce, any *attribute *that we ascribe to God is likewise vague, figurative, loose, and/or analogous; which is why, later in the same manuscript, he *does not* define "God" as "Mind" itself, but as an "analogue of a mind--for it is impossible to say that *any *human attribute is *literally *applicable" (CP 6.502). Regards, Jon Alan Schmidt - Olathe, Kansas, USA Structural Engineer, Synechist Philosopher, Lutheran Christian www.LinkedIn.com/in/JonAlanSchmidt / twitter.com/JonAlanSchmidt On Wed, Sep 18, 2024 at 7:26 AM Edwina Taborsky <[email protected]> wrote: > JAS, list > > And I continue to disagree with your interpretation. Peirce points out > that “God’ is a vernacular word and like all such words, but more than > almost any, is vague. 6.494… > > Therefore - I don’t see how a vague word can also refer to a single > individual .. > > And Peirce himself provides a definition of there meaning of ‘God' with > “the analogue of a mind” 6.502. > > Edwina >
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