14 Questions
What is the main argument behind St. Thomas Aquinas' First Way of proving the existence of God?
The evidence of motion and the concept of infinite regress
What is the consequence of an infinite series of movers in St. Thomas' First Way?
Motion would never have started and there would be no motion now
What is the main idea behind St. Thomas' Second Way of proving the existence of God?
The notion of an efficient cause and the impossibility of self-causation
Why cannot a being be the efficient cause of itself according to St. Thomas' Second Way?
Because it would be prior to itself in order to cause itself
What is the main idea behind St. Thomas' Third Way of proving the existence of God?
The possibility of contingent beings and their existence
What is the implication of the existence of contingent beings according to St. Thomas' Third Way?
That there must be a necessary being that exists
What is the main idea behind St. Thomas' Fourth Way of proving the existence of God?
The gradations of perfections among beings
What is the significance of the concept of 'First Mover' in St. Thomas' First Way?
It is the source of all motion and is itself unmoved
What is the underlying assumption of the fourth way?
That there is a perfect being that is the cause of perfections in less than perfect beings
According to the fifth way, how do natural bodies achieve their end?
By design and direction from an intelligent being
What is the conclusion of the fifth way?
That an intelligent being exists who directs natural bodies to their end
What is the relationship between the perfect being and less than perfect beings?
The perfect being is the cause of the perfections of the less than perfect beings
What is the analogy used in the fifth way to explain direction towards an end?
The arrow is directed by the archer
What is the name given to the intelligent being who directs natural bodies to their end?
God
Study Notes
St. Thomas Aquinas' Five Ways to Prove the Existence of God
First Way: Motion
- Motion is evident all around us
- Whatever is in motion now was at rest until moved by something else
- There cannot be an infinite series of movers (infinite regress) as it would mean no motion could have started
- Therefore, there must be a First Mover which is itself unmoved, referred to as God
Second Way: Efficient Cause
- Efficient causes are producing causes in the world
- Nothing can be the efficient cause of itself, as it would require being prior to itself
- There cannot be an infinite regress of essentially related efficient causes, as there would be no causality in the series
- Therefore, there must be a first un-caused efficient cause of all efficient causality in the world, referred to as God
Third Way: Possibility and Necessity
- Every existing being does not owe its existence to itself
- Beings that begin to exist and cease to exist are contingent beings
- Not all beings can be possible beings, as what comes to exist does so only through what already exists
- Therefore, there must be a necessary being that exists, referred to as God
Fourth Way: Degrees of Perfection
- There exist gradations of perfections among beings
- Things cannot be more or less perfect unless there is a wholly perfect being
- The wholly perfect being is the cause of the less than perfect beings
- Therefore, there must be a perfect Being which is the cause of perfections of the less than perfect beings, referred to as God
Fifth Way: Degrees of Perfection
- The behavior of natural things in the world implies a Grand Designer or Architect
- Natural bodies act for an end, achieving their end not by chance, but by design
- Whatever lacks knowledge cannot move towards an end unless directed by a being endowed with knowledge and intelligence
- Therefore, some intelligent being exists, referred to as God, by whom all natural things are ordered to their end
Explore the philosophical arguments of St. Thomas Aquinas, including the first way of motion, to prove the existence of God. Learn about the concept of infinite regress and its implications.
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