The Ockhamist Solution
The Ockhamist Solution
Perhaps the most widely discussed solution to the divine foreknowledge dilemma in recent years is the Ockhamist solution. Many variations of it have been proposed, and some are probably not very close to the original ntentions of William of Ockham. This chapter considers a solution which is Ockhamist in spirit as it takes accidental necessity seriously and at least initially identifies it with the necessity of the past. It assumes that God exists in time, and also denies that God's beliefs are accidentally necessary. The general idea behind this solution is that even though God had beliefs (more or less) in the past, and even though the past is (more or less) accidentally necessary, God's beliefs nonetheless escape accidental necessity. This chapter also discusses what is known as Thomistic Ockhamism and proposes a solution to the timeless knowledge dilemma.
Keywords: William of Ockham, God, divine foreknowledge, dilemma, beliefs, accidental necessity, past, Thomistic Ockhamism, timeless knowledge
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