Perhaps the Neoplatonic ‘One’, rather than the God of (perfect being) theism, is ultimate foundation of reality. The One is, for the purposes of this blogpost, understood to be an absolutely transcedent, impersonal simple. Here I will offer an dilemma-style argument against the existence of the One.

1. The One is an absolutely transcendent, impersonal simple.
2. Either the One is absolutely perfect or the One is not absolutely perfect.
3. If the One is not absolutely perfect, then the One does not transcend the realm of imperfect things.
4. If the One does not transcend the realm of imperfect things, then the One is not absolutely transcendent.
5. Therefore, the One is absolutely perfect. [from 1-4]
6. For any x, for x to be absolutely perfect, x needs to have all perfections.
7. Omniscience is a perfection.
8. Only minds can be omniscient.
9. Impersonal simples cannot be minds.
10. Therefore, the One is not absolutely perfect. [from 1-2, 6-9]
11. Thus the One is both absolutely perfect and not absolutely perfect. [from 5 and 10, contradiction]
12. Nothing that exists is contradictory.
13. Therefore, the One does not exist. [conclusion, from 11 and 12]