Thomas Aquinas Argument

Alexander Haydon – Essay #2
What came first, the chicken or the egg? Philosophers have questioned what came first, and the existence of a higher power for thousands of years. Theist, Atheist, and Agnostic, society classifies people based on their answer to the question of the existence of a higher power, or God in this case. Aquinas, arguably one of the most famous philosophers, states that the existence of god can be proven through the five ways, an excerpt from his work the Summa Theologica. The five ways or arguments that Aquinas uses to prove the existence of a higher power are the Arguments from Motion, Efficient Causes, Possibility and Necessity, Gradation of Being, and Design. Of the five different arguments that Aquinas proposed to
This argument proves that God was the first cause, which established the current series of efficient causes. Aquinas stated in the Summa Theologica that there are a series of causes which produced the things one sees in the world. It is logical to state that none of the things one witnesses can exist prior to themselves; as a result, if a previous efficient cause does not exist then neither would the result. Therefore, if there is not a first efficient cause, then there cannot be an effect. Aquinas believed that it was impossible for efficient causes to extend into infinity. Without a first cause, a specific start, the series of causes that produced the world would not be present. Since one is present, one can recognize the existence of a first efficient cause that could be named God. The argument of efficient causes can be described through a number of explanations, such as a builder creating a home. The builder is able to recognize the potential of the materials and construct them into a home; the materials themselves, however, are unable to turn themselves into a home. Another example is a set of dominos; someone has to push the first domino to begin the series of