Date of Graduation

5-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Philosophy (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Philosophy

Advisor/Mentor

Adler, Jacob

Committee Member

Senor, Thomas D.

Second Committee Member

Reece, Bryan

Keywords

Analogies; Early Modern Philosophy; Jonathan Edwards; Ontology; Trinity

Abstract

Jonathan Edwards scholarship has been divided in recent years on the correct interpretation of his work. Scholars like Sang Hyun Lee and Amy Plantinga Pauw maintain that Edwards used a radically new dispositional ontology to understand the fundamental realities of nature. Oliver Crisp, Kyle Strobel, and Steve Studebaker have argued that Edwards used an essentialist ontology. I will defend the latter position and explain how it is tied to Edwards’s Trinitarianism. I argue for an interpretation of Edwards that situates him in his historical and theological context. The early modern philosophy of his day was marked by essentialist ontology. The Reformed tradition of his day was marked by understanding the Trinity in an orthodox way. I argue that Edwards combined both of these themes in his philosophy and theology. This made for a unique understanding of ontology and Trinitarianism, but Edwards remained within the bounds of the philosophy and theology of his time.

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