Mutual Indwelling

A. J. Cotnoir

doi:10.5840/faithphil201741179

Mutual Indwelling

A. J. Cotnoir

Philosophy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Perichoresis, or “mutual indwelling,” is a crucial concept in Trinitarian theology. But the philosophical underpinnings of the concept are puzzling. According to ordinary conceptions of “indwelling” or “being in,” it is incoherent to think that two entities could be in each other. In this paper, I propose a mereological way of understanding “being in,” by analogy with standard examples in contemporary metaphysics. I argue that this proposal does not conflict with the doctrine of divine simplicity, but instead affirms it. I conclude by discussing how mutual indwelling relates to the concepts of unity (modal inseparability) and identity (qualitative indiscernibility).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	123-151
Number of pages	29
Journal	Faith and Philosophy
Volume	34
Issue number	2
Early online date	12 Apr 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil201741179
Publication status	Published - Apr 2017

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10.5840/faithphil201741179

Mutual Indwelling
© 2017 Society of Christian Philosophers. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at: https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil201741179
Accepted author manuscript, 190 KB

https://www.pdcnet.org/faithphil/content/faithphil_2017_0034_0002_0123_0151

Aaron Cotnoir
- ac117st-andrews.acuk
- Philosophy - Professor
- Arché Philosophical Research Centre for Logic, Language, Metaphysics and Epistemology
Person: Academic

Cite this

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JF - Faith and Philosophy

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Mutual Indwelling

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Aaron Cotnoir

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