Thomas Aquinas Cosmological Argument
Paper #1
From the arguments discussed in class, I choose to evaluate Thomas Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument. Aquinas offers a believable case for the existence of God through five arguments. The arguments are “a posteriori arguments” with five strategies (Aquinas 52). The first argues that there is an unmoved mover that originated all motion but the mover, itself, does not move. The second argument concludes: “there must be a first cause to explain the existence of cause” (Aquinas 52). The third argument says dependent beings means there are independent and necessary beings on whom the dependent has to rely on. The fourth argument supports the principle of excellence by proposing that there must be a perfect being from whom all perfection stems from. The last argument claims there is a divine designer who created the harmony of nature. Although all these arguments make strong cases for the existence of God, I will focus on the first three. For each of the three arguments, I will explicitly present the argument, what the premises mean and what type of validity the argument aligns with. I will also propose objections there are and then prove them wrong. This assessment is to reaffirm my agreement with Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument.
The first argument from change is built of eight premises. It starts by stating that things are in motion (1) and this motion is moved by another force (2). Also, things that are not in motion have the potential to be in movement (3). Movement is the act of transforming potentiality to actuality (4). This leads to the fact that one thing cannot be in the stage of potentiality or the stage of actuality at the same time (5). Potentiality is the state of being possible. Actuality is the state of existence. The stages clarify that “it is impossible, therefore, that…anything should both cause movement and be caused, or that it should cause itself to move” (6) (Aquinas 53). Therefore, motion is only possible if it is moved by something
From the arguments discussed in class, I choose to evaluate Thomas Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument. Aquinas offers a believable case for the existence of God through five arguments. The arguments are “a posteriori arguments” with five strategies (Aquinas 52). The first argues that there is an unmoved mover that originated all motion but the mover, itself, does not move. The second argument concludes: “there must be a first cause to explain the existence of cause” (Aquinas 52). The third argument says dependent beings means there are independent and necessary beings on whom the dependent has to rely on. The fourth argument supports the principle of excellence by proposing that there must be a perfect being from whom all perfection stems from. The last argument claims there is a divine designer who created the harmony of nature. Although all these arguments make strong cases for the existence of God, I will focus on the first three. For each of the three arguments, I will explicitly present the argument, what the premises mean and what type of validity the argument aligns with. I will also propose objections there are and then prove them wrong. This assessment is to reaffirm my agreement with Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument.
The first argument from change is built of eight premises. It starts by stating that things are in motion (1) and this motion is moved by another force (2). Also, things that are not in motion have the potential to be in movement (3). Movement is the act of transforming potentiality to actuality (4). This leads to the fact that one thing cannot be in the stage of potentiality or the stage of actuality at the same time (5). Potentiality is the state of being possible. Actuality is the state of existence. The stages clarify that “it is impossible, therefore, that…anything should both cause movement and be caused, or that it should cause itself to move” (6) (Aquinas 53). Therefore, motion is only possible if it is moved by something