Does God have qualia? Some arguments in favour of the existence of divine qualia

Abstract Does God have qualia, does He know the ‘what it is like’ character of experiences? The questions run deep into the metaphysics of God as they concern concepts that most traditional theists accept with regard to God: that He is personal, loving, omniscient, omnipotent, and created the world ex nihilo . Building upon these concepts, I present four arguments in favour of the existence of divine qualia. Positing divine qualia may seem incompatible with divine simplicity, a tenet of classical theism, and the problem of emotions unworthy of God also may arise. I argue that the difficulties regarding simplicity do not stem from the existence of divine qualia per se but are related to difficulties already established in relation to simplicity. As for emotions unworthy of God, I try to show how a careful distinction between personal perspectives can offer a solution.

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Publication Details

Journal
Religious Studies
Published
2026-09-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0034412526101838
Primary Topic
Theology and Philosophy of Evil
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Does God have qualia? Some arguments in favour of the existence of divine qualia

Anna Lovas
Religious Studies
Theology and Philosophy of Evil
article

Does God have qualia? Some arguments in favour of the existence of divine qualia

Anna Lovas
article en

Abstract

Abstract Does God have qualia, does He know the ‘what it is like’ character of experiences? The questions run deep into the metaphysics of God as they concern concepts that most traditional theists accept with regard to God: that He is personal, loving, omniscient, omnipotent, and created the world ex nihilo . Building upon these concepts, I present four arguments in favour of the existence of divine qualia. Positing divine qualia may seem incompatible with divine simplicity, a tenet of classical theism, and the problem of emotions unworthy of God also may arise. I argue that the difficulties regarding simplicity do not stem from the existence of divine qualia per se but are related to difficulties already established in relation to simplicity. As for emotions unworthy of God, I try to show how a careful distinction between personal perspectives can offer a solution.

Religious Studies
Eötvös Loránd University (HU)
Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Theology and Philosophy of Evil
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