Thinking about the nature of reality – its roots and its extent – stood at the very beginning of human speculation and has since been systematically developed into a wide range of metaphysical systems. These systems began by presupposing their own platitudes, methodological imperatives, and goals, each shaped by and varying according to the philosophical traditions in which they emerged. It is not surprising, then, that such systems often rely on non-philosophical assumptions which, in the end, must either withstand philosophical scrutiny or be set aside for the sake of deeper understanding.
The central focus of this book is both too broad to be fully captured and yet too specific to be addressed in isolation from broader philosophical, logical, epistemological, and theological concerns. It concerns ‘that than which nothing greater can be conceived.’ The notion of such a being – maximally great, necessary, and perfect in various respects – has endured in philosophical discourse for centuries and continues to provoke debate today.
The problem of such a being has long captivated me, not primarily because of personal faith, but because of the profound and far-reaching questions it raises. These questions have drawn attention from historical, speculative, and rigorously analytic perspectives. When examined within different philosophical frameworks, they form a fascinating theoretical enterprise. Their appeal is manifold: the more one reflects on them, the more problematic, provocative, and intellectually stimulating they become.
One of the central motivations for reflecting on such a being lies in its inherently debatable nature, as revealed through the great-making properties. These properties are rarely – if ever – encountered directly and are even more difficult to conceptualise without confronting the limitations of beings who do not themselves possess them. Concepts like omniscience, omnipotence, necessity, and perfect goodness stretch our philosophical tools to their limits. Many existing accounts attempt to reconcile the extraordinary nature of this being with a coherent and consistent characterisation, preserving both the intuitions and the supremacy we tend to ascribe to it. This book offers a further contribution to that ongoing debate.
The central thesis I defend is that the entity filling the role of God is an explosive object. It is an entity whose existence entails every proposition, brings about the obtaining of every state of affairs, and instantiates every possibility and impossibility. In short, it is an entity for which everything is the case. Unsurprisingly, this thesis is bold and, to many, incredible, perhaps even absurd. Yet it merits careful articulation and serious evaluation. The nine
My wife once said to me, ‘I think you’re right’, though she meant it rather ironically – more as a reductio of the very notion of ‘that than which nothing greater can be conceived’ than as a genuine endorsement. Nonetheless, in this work, I offer a positive account of such a being and present a framework that embraces this radical interpretation. My aim is not to refute the idea of God, but to take it seriously – perhaps more seriously than any traditional account has dared to do.