Can God create a stone so heavy that God cant lift it? Does God have the ability to sin? Reflections on the nature of omnipotence, or unlimited power, like these and others will be addressed during a lecture Friday (April 3) at West Virginia University .

Earl Conee, a professor of philosophy at the University of Rochester in New York, is giving a lecture,The Possibility of Power Beyond Possibility,at 4 p.m. in the Monongahela Room of the Mountainlair.

The Department of Philosophy in WVU s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is hosting the free presentation, followed by a reception.

Conee will discuss the paradoxes of omnipotence and what it would take for a being to truly be omnipotent. The format of the talk is informal to ensure plenty of time for interaction and discussion.

Conee received his undergraduate degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., in 1973 and his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in 1980. He specializes in epistemology, a branch of philosophy concerned with the origin, nature and limitations of human knowledge.

He is co-author ofRiddles of Existence: A Guided Tour of Metaphysicsand has been epistemology editor for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy since 2003.

For more information, e-mail ” Sharon.Ryan@mail.wvu.edu rel=nofollow> Sharon.Ryan@mail.wvu.edu .