Sources and Scope
from Part II - God
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 November 2025
In this chapter, I begin my interpretation of Arnauld’s God by outlining Arnauld’s account of our epistemic access to God. I first consider four prominent positions among Arnauld’s peers and predecessors: the empirical model, the divine illumination model, the innatist model, and the Dieu caché. I then go on to examine Arnauld’s account of our innate idea of God as well as considerations that Arnauld raises that limit the scope of knowledge we can derive from his idea. This places his view as a surprising amalgam of the innatist model and the Dieu caché. I also consider Arnauld’s rejection of the empirical model and the divine illumination model as well as briefly discussing his account of knowledge of God via faith.
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