ONLINE FIRST
published on April 12, 2017
A. J. Cotnoir
https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil201741179
Mutual Indwelling
Perichoresis, or ¡°mutual indwelling,¡± is a crucial concept in Trinitarian theology. But the philosophical underpinnings of the concept are puzzling. According to ordinary conceptions of ¡°indwelling¡± or ¡°being in,¡± it is incoherent to think that two entities could be in each other. In this paper, I propose a mereological way of understanding ¡°being in,¡± by analogy with standard examples in contemporary metaphysics. I argue that this proposal does not conflict with the doctrine of divine simplicity, but instead affirms it. I conclude by discussing how mutual indwelling relates to the concepts of unity (modal inseparability) and identity (qualitative indiscernibility).