Superior Beings

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Steven J. Brams

   Pages 1-11

3. The Rationality of Belief in a Superior Being

   • Steven J. Brams

   Pages 13-40

4. Omniscience and Partial Omniscience

   • Steven J. Brams

   Pages 41-65

5. The Paradox of Omniscience and the Theory of Moves

   • Steven J. Brams

   Pages 67-90

6. Omnipotence: Moving and Staying Power

   • Steven J. Brams

   Pages 91-121

7. Immortality and Incomprehensibility

   • Steven J. Brams

   Pages 123-155

8. Superior Beings: They May Be Undecidable

   • Steven J. Brams

   Pages 157-171

9. Back Matter

   Pages 173-202

   PDF

The central question I pose in this book is: If there existed a supe­ rior being who possessed the supernatural qualities of omni­ science, omnipotence, immortality, and incomprehensibility, how would he/she act differently from us, and would these differences be knowable? (ßecause God, the superior being in the Judeo­ Christian tradition, is generally described as a male, I shall hence­ forth use the masculine pronoun form for convenience, but I intend no invidious gender distinctions, whether applied to super­ natural or natural beings.l Theologians, philosophers of religion, and erudite scholars in other disciplines have addressed this and related questions before, but their answers, generally speaking, have not been informed by any systematic or rigorous theory. I believe the mathematical theory of games, which has little to do with the frivolity and playfulness we normally associate with games, provides a powerful tool for clarifying the key theo­ logical concepts in my central question and drawing out their implications in games played between human and superior beings. I am fully aware that not everybody will agree that omni­ science, omnipotence, immortality, and incomprehensibility are what I say they are, but I invite them to propose their own defi- Preface viii nitions and derive their own conclusions with the aid of the theory. By endowing these protean concepts with unambiguous meanings, I will try to show how game theory can breathe life into questions that have been dismissed too quickly simply because they are metaphysical-outside the world of experience.

• Forth
• Mathematica
• Natural
• eXist
• form
• game theory
• games
• tool

• Department of Politics, New York University, New York, USA

  Steven J. Brams

Policies and ethics