Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion

ILLATIVE

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undergo morally relevant suffering?). In
such a case, a fisherman may be blameless
if he is charged with intentionally causing
suffering. Vincible ignorance can be over-
come, however, and is the result of negli-
gence or prejudice. A slave owner in
the early nineteenth century might claim
ignorance of whether slavery causes mor-
ally relevant suffering, but this does not
appear to be exculpatory.

ILLATIVE. A term from the work of
Bishop John Henry Newman to refer to
an innate awareness we may have of
values and the sacred.

IMAGE. From the Latin imago, meaning
“copy, statue, picture, idea, or appearance.”
Susanne Langer and some other philoso-
phers have argued that images are central
to thinking in science, philosophy, and
religion. Arguably, there was a profound
shift of images of nature when the West
moved from seeing the natural world as a
book (creation was God’s first book; the
Bible was the second) to seeing it as Dar-
win’s tree of life. Some philosophers of
religion have proposed instead that the
ultimate encounter of the soul with God
must be beyond images. See also ICONS.

IMAGINATION. A key reference point
for philosophers in or influenced by
the Romantic movement. There are
multiple philosophical uses of this term.
According to one use, the imagination is
the power to conceive or visualize that

which is not present sensorially. From a

narrow, strict point of view, we do not

sense the back but only the surface of

objects. Nonetheless, it would seem

absurd to claim that you only can see the

surface of a chocolate chip cookie and not

the cookie itself. Some philosophers hold

that it is the imagination that allows

one to claim she sees more than cookie

surfaces. Others use the imagination

more broadly to involve the conceiving of

that which may or may not exist. Strictly

speaking, the imagination refers to a

power or faculty of persons, rather than

to a thing. Someone may be said to have

imagination insofar as she has the power

to form mental imagery.

IMMANENCE. From the Latin

immanere, meaning “to inhabit.” The

immanence of God is God’s presence

throughout the creation. Immanence is a

feature of God’s omnipresence or ubiquity.

IMMANENT. God is thought to be

immanent in creation insofar as God

is omnipresent. Divine immanence

throughout the creation does not entail

that God incorporates the cosmos as

God’s body or that God is materially pres-

ent; e.g., there is more of God in a large

land mass like Australia rather than the

comparatively smaller (though lovely)

New Zealand.

IMMATERIALISM. A common term for

idealist theorists like George Berkeley