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Show Page 190 inert matter is untenable in the face of modern physics, and that any exertion of energy requires an agent that "wills" it. Many philosophers question the intelligibility of "panpsychism." It is arguing from analogy, they say, and therefore logically faulty, to insist that an atom "wills" its own motions in the same sense that a human being "wills" himself to move an arm or a leg. Furthermore, such an analogy ignores the observable differences between intellectual man and atomic particles: for example, man's capacity for making random choices clearly differs from the atomic capacity only to "obey." Thinkers who regard matter as "active" may only be engaging in the same kind of semantic dispute that we seen in the "half-full / half-empty" conundrum - activity and passivity may be inappropriate terms when discussing physical processes. Some critics have called the metaphysics of Mormonism "apocalyptic 40 nonsense." The difficulties in Orson Pratt's reasoning, however, stfiduld not obscure the contributions he makes. His inventive application of the term "Great First Cause" to self-moving substance serves to render more intelligible his own definition as well as showing the contrast with the established one. As he re-works traditional religious language, he mines its implications while buying quick comprehension for his own interpretive novelties. In addition, certain key terms in Mormon revelation - "intelligence," for example - assume substance and definition from Orson's conjectural pen. The result - a new theological vocabulary which is, although for historical reasons limited in acceptance, uniquely "Mormon." Great First Cause provides Mormon philosophy with the beginning of a genuine metaphysics. |