The Argument Of The Unmoved Mover

St. Thomas Aquinas’s first cosmological argument, the prime mover, defines things in the world as being either in a state of potentiality or in a state of actuality. Those things that are in potentiality are things that have the capability of being reduced to another form. Such as a boy is potentially a man, or tree is potentially a house. Things that are in a state of actuality are things that are currently reaching their potential; such as that boy becoming a man, or that tree becoming that house. Aquinas observed that all things in a state of actuality had to have been put into that state by something that was already in actuality. In thinking about this he concluded that there would have to be an infinite regress of actual things making potential things actual. He concluded that this would be impossible because given that, there would be no first mover. He instead, postulated that there must be a first mover. A being that never had potential but only has existed in a state of infinite actuality. That what we call God.

- St. Thomas Aquina interpreted Aristotelian philosophy from a Christian perspective. Aquina also gave five proofs for God’s existence; motion, efficient cause, possibility and necessity, degrees of perfection and design. The first way was natural things are in motion. If something is in motion, then it must be set into motion by something outside of itself. There

Many philosophers have posed the question: How can I prove that God exists? Thomas Aquinas attempted to prove the existence of God in a rational way through his Cosmological argument. Aquinas argued that every event as we observe it has a cause and a casual chain cannot be infinite. Therefore, a first cause is necessary and this cause is God. Aquinas’ argument is unsuccessful because it assumes that God is a necessary being, fails to prove that the world is not an infinite chain of events, and undermines the basis of his argument by saying that God is infinite.

In the article, “The Five Ways,” from Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas argues whether God exists, which

This argument states that everything in this world has certain potentials for change. It also states that, for these potentials to be met, another object, that already exists, must set off said potential. That object, in turn, would have to have been put in flux by something else, and so on and so forth. All of this ultimately leads to one object which started all this change, that one object being God.

The first part in which one can prove that there is a God is based on change. In the first part, Aquinas mentions that things change and that there has to be something which brings about that change, but at the same time is changeless. Aquinas states that “a thing in process of change cannot itself cause that same change; it cannot change itself” (Aquinas 45). For example, he gives an example about wood and fire. The wood is able to be hot but simply cannot make itself change without having an outside source that will cause it to become hot. The fire, that is naturally hot, will indeed make the wood hot and as a result, will change the wood.

As one of most valuable works on this topic one can name St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, in which he states that existence of God, can be demonstrated in five different ways.

St. Thomas was a Dominican priest and philosopher. His two best works are Summa Theologiae and Summa Contra Gentiles which are incredibly famous. Of the five proofs, the first and fifth are widely known and argued frequently. The first way to prove God’s existence is the argument from motion. From common observation St. Thomas concluded that an object that is in motion, like a moving hockey puck, is put in motion by some other object or force.

Thomas Aquinas in his book, Summa Theologica, states his reasoning for the existence of God. The first of Aquinas’s arguments for the existence of God is Motion All things are put in motion by something else. All motions are results of previous motions. You cannot infinitely regress, there must be a first or “original” mover who is not, and cannot be, moved by an outside force or influence. In other words there must be a beginning to our world by an unending entity.

He demonstrates this by looking at how creation is related to God and how we speak about creation and God. Aquinas states that God is “universally perfect that to which the excellence of no genus is lacking” (28, para. 1). Aquinas states that everything that is imperfect must come from something perfect (28, para. 5), therefore every genus’ perfection must be found in God (28, para. 8).

They must have a cause that makes them move or they must have already been put into motion. Things cannot exist prior to their existence. This statement is uncomplicated and clearly understood. The third proof is easily agreeable. All things come in to and out of existence. A human being is born and eventually passes away with old age. A tree sprouts and eventually deteriorates with old age as well. We all are dependent on someone or something. The fourth proof is straightforward. We must have some sort of measure and God is the ultimate standard. The fifth proof is infallible. We are born into this world without any knowledge. We must learn and discover. So, there must be an intelligent being that existed before us to create us to strive to find knowledge. This supreme intelligent being is God. I have nothing to negatively express about Aquinas’ proofs. All five of Aquinas’ proofs work as sufficient proof. They are all understandable, straightforward, uncomplicated, proofs that make sense. God is the supreme being; He is the highest in knowledge, motion, efficient causes, necessity and possibility, gradation being, and design. I believe Anselm’s argument works as proof for God’s existence. Anselm’s argument says that by definition, God is a greater being than anything that could be imagined. Existence in reality is greater than existence in imagination. Therefore, God must exist in reality because if He didn’t, then He wouldn’t be a being

Thomas Aquinas theorized five different logical arguments to prove the existence of God utilizing scientific hypotheses and basic assumptions of nature. In the fifth of his famous “Five Ways”, Aquinas sets forth the assumption that all natural bodies move toward an end. Since bodies are constantly moving in the best way possible to achieve that end, the path must be designed. God, of course, is the ultimate designer of the universe.

The final crucial proof of the existence of God is Aquinas fourth proof. This proof looks at qualities of humans; all humans possess many different attributes which we consider unique to each individual. This is when standards are formed humans began to have a certain criteria for how or what someone with a given attribute should act or how they should portray themselves. The only way this standard could come into existence is to believe that there is a perfect creation possessing all qualities and expressing them in the most precise and perfect way. This perfect creation is God, the person in which humans get the laws at which the obeyed by. Aquinas five proofs of the existence of God are much more extensive but just looking at the proof of motion and the proof of perfection it becomes unquestionable that there is an almighty creation. This superior creation creates laws at which

When St. Thomas wrote this section of his ground breaking essay what he ultimately was claiming, was that through philosophy and observation, there is a way to see how the natural world points to there in fact being a God. Although to some it may seem absurd, modern day science based upon observation and experimentation, does not completely discredit or debunk the first, second, third, and fifth arguments from St. Thomas Aquinas’s Five Ways, but rather it suggests substantial evidential credibility, in regards to his theories on God’s existence.Concepts, theories, and laws drawn from the

Aquinas's fifth proof relates more directly to "Science Finds God." This article states that the complexity of the natural world is more evidence that God must exist. Thomas says that there is some pure act of intelligence that causes all other acts of intelligence. As an archer shoots an arrow towards its target, God aims everything to its ultimate end. Everything is ordered towards an end and that end is determined by a being we call God. Using empirical sciences, it is evident that everything has its purpose and functions for