Concept
Omniscience
Overview
Omniscience is the property of possessing maximal knowledge. In Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, it is often attributed to a divine being or an all-knowing spirit, entity or person. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. In Buddhism, there are differing beliefs about omniscience among different schools.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
This faculty--at his birth, was he not, like any other man, in possession of it? If he was, what was become of it? In this particular, the information thus supposed to have been given by Omniscience, was rather of the scantiest. Supposing the story to have any foundation in truth,--such, to Ananias, it could not but have appeared; and, supposing him bold enough to ask questions, or even to open his mouth, a…
Jeremy Bentham, Not Paul, but Jesus
Names Omniscience several times; states what Omniscience is.
62: which rules, grounded on the analogy and uniformness observed in the production of natural effects, are most agreeable and sought after by the mind; for that they extend our prospect beyond what is present and near to us, and enable us to make very probable conjectures touching things that may have happened at very great distances of time and place, as well as to predict things to come: which sort of endeavour…
George Berkeley, The Works of George Berkeley. Vol. 1 of 4
States what Omniscience is; the author is tied to Omniscience in the knowledge graph.
For, in truth, when we meet with so many products in nature which are to us marks of an intelligent cause, why should we not think One cause rather than many; and in this One, not merely great intelligence, power, etc., but rather Omniscience, and Omnipotence--in a word, think it as a Cause that contains the sufficient ground of such properties in all possible things? Further, why should we not ascribe to this…
Immanuel Kant, Kant's Critique of Judgement
Opens on Omniscience; names Omniscience.
Philosophers who discussed Omniscience
- George Berkeley
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- Abraham ibn Daud
- Pietro Pomponazzi
- Socrates
- Umaswati
- The Buddha
- Michael Huemer
- Samantabhadra (Jain monk)
- Islam
- Gersonides
- Utpaladeva
- Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno
- Srinivasacharya
- Jules Lequier
Related ideas
- Tirthankara
- Linda Zagzebski
- Hinduism
- Philosophy
- Abrahamic religions
- John Calvin
- Jainism
- Bhakti
- Latin
- Dharmakirti
- Vishnu
- Muslims
- Kamalaśīla
- Oxford English Dictionary
- Predestination
- Śāntarakṣita
- Sikhism
- Christian theology
- Arihant (Jainism)
- Theology
- William Lane Craig
- Buddhism
- Free will
- John Polkinghorne
Place in the tradition
Part of Atheism.