Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion

91

FOUCAULT, MICHEL

existence of God. These conclude that
there is (1) a first mover, (2) a first
efficient cause, (3) a necessary being,
(4) a maximally perfect being, and (5) a
designer.

FLORENTINE ACADEMY. A key
movement in the Renaissance reclama-
tion of classical sources driven particu-
larly by the writings of Marsilio Ficino
and Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola,
whose work first brought the Platonic tra-
dition and Platonic translations system-
atically into Western philosophy. Their
philosophy is typified by the syncretic
claim that, although Christian revelation
is the primary model of God’s revelation,
pagan philosophical systems could reveal
something of the truth of God. The great-
est of these pagan traditions was the
Platonic, particularly as understood in
the Neoplatonic formulations of Plotinus
and his followers.

FOREKNOWLEDGE. Ability to know
the future. Given an omniscient God
(in a strong, unrestricted sense of omni-
science), foreknowledge is often thought
to be essential to the very nature of God.
For God to be omniscient, God cannot
be ignorant of the future. Foreknowledge
does raise paradoxes, however. If God
knows you will freely read this entry in
2011, could you have done otherwise?
Most monotheists hold that God is eter-
nal and that God only foreknows what

you will do from our point of view,

whereas to God all times are present to

God’s eternal presence. Some moderns

(often called open theists) deny divine

foreknowledge and understand omni-

science as covering all that is possible for

God (or any being) to know. They thereby

restrict omniscience to not including all

future acts.

FORGIVENESS. The traditional defini-

tion of forgiveness is that it involves

a person forswearing (or moderating)

resentment directed at a presumed

wrong-doer. The forgiver is one who has

been either directly or indirectly wronged;

it would make no sense for someone to

forgive a person unless that person is

believed to have wronged the forgiver.

Questions arise about the relationship of

forgiveness and mercy, whether forgive-

ness can be wrong, and the extent to

which forgiveness must be relational. Is

forgiveness conditional on the wrong-

doer confessing and reforming?

FOUCAULT, MICHEL (1926–1984).

A French thinker who employed philo-

sophical methods in treating culturally

and politically significant institutions

and practices. Foucault’s work is in the

Nietzschean spirit of unmasking so called

impartial, objective principles and insti-

tutions as being actually motivated by

very particular forces. He has been influ-

ential on feminist philosophers of religion