Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion

PROCESS PHILOSOPHY

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Ptolemaic model of the universe. It is also
known as the crystalline sphere, and it is
the origin of time, motion, and life. God’s
love generates the sphere’s rotation, which
moves with incomprehensible velocity;
it is the ultimate physical heaven. The
sphere’s perfect rotation and shape is rep-
resentative of the self-contained nature of
God. The Primum Mobile is enclosed only
by the Empyrean Heaven, the mind of
God. Dante Alighieri uses the term in his
writings to demonstrate how a mingling
of philosophical reflection on religious
truths can reveal the obscure nature in
biblical scriptures. He forms this concep-
tion by drawing on elements from both
Aristotelian and Neoplatonist physics.
Furthermore, Primum Mobile can be seen
as an allegory that expresses Dante’s belief
in the value of philosophical engagement
and intellectual contemplation for a happy
life and closer relationship with God.

PRIOR PROBABILITY. Prior to some
inquiry about whether X is true, there
may be some independent reasons for
thinking it is likely to be true.

PRIVATE LANGUAGE ARGUMENT.
The meaning of language must be pub-
licly confirmable and (in principle) its
rules evident. Attributed to Wittgenstein,
this argument has been used against Car-
tesianism and skepticism. D. Z. Phillips
has used the argument that there can be no
incorporeal divine being or consciousness.

Some philosophers have used skepticism

to counter the private language argument.

Arguably, a case could arise when, for

example, one could not confirm or know

with certainty whether a person’s use of

color terms is exactly the same as someone

else’s. Could an ostensibly unique case

arise in which a person’s use of the term

“red” is precisely akin to all Anglophone

subjects and yet she sees what most peo-

ple call “blue”? This is called the problem

of the inverted spectrum.

PROBABILISM. The thesis that the

moral or religious precept that seems

more probable to an agent is the one that

is binding.

PROBLEM OF EVIL. See EVIL, PROB-

LEM OF.

PROCESS PHILOSOPHY. Philosophy

inspired by Alfred North Whitehead

(1861–1947) and Charles Hartshorne

(1897–2000) that emphasizes God’s

becoming rather than God’s being. Reality

consists of events, not material sub-

stances. Panentheistic (God contains the

world but is not identical with it) in its

approach, process philosophy argues that

by virtue of God’s relationship to and

interaction with the world, God is affected

by the change within the world and expe-

riences both suffering and joy alongside

creation. Thus while certain things about