Critique on Whether God Exists Essay - 837 Words

Critique on Whether God Exists Countless philosophers since the beginning of recorded history have pondered the question of whether God exists. One such philosopher, Saint Thomas Aquinas, put forth his own theory on the existence of God. In his text â€Å"Whether God Exists†, he stated that through his five arguments he could prove God’s existence. His five arguments are from motion, from first efficient cause, from possibility and necessity, from gradation, and from design. Aquinas begins his text with two objections as to why God does not exist. The first states that God does not exist because the word â€Å"God† has the meaning of infinite goodness. Therefore, if God actually existed there would be no evil in this world. Because†¦show more content†¦According to Aquinas, everything has been put into motion by an original force or first mover, and this he believes to be God. Aquinas’ second argument is the argument from the formality of efficient causation. In this he states that there is an order of efficient causes in things that occur. Aquinas says that there is no evidence â€Å"†¦in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bowie, 58, Col.2). He states that there must be a first cause, which creates one or more intermediate causes, which then in turn creates an ultimate cause. According to Aquinas, without a cause, there can be no effect. Therefore without a first cause, there cannot be an intermediate or ultimate cause, or an ultimate effect. So according to Aquinas, there must have been some First Efficient Cause, which he claims is God. Aquinas’ third argument is from possibility and necessity. In this Aquinas states that things that can one day cease to exist could not have always existed. Aquinas says â€Å"†¦if everything could cease to exist, then at one time there could have been nothing in existence.† (Bowie, 59, Col.1). He stated that if this were true then there woul d be nothing in existence now. This is because according to Aquinas, if nothing had existed, there would be nothing there to begin to exist. So therefore, according to Aquinas, there must be some being in existence that has always been there. This something has its own necessity and causes necessity inShow MoreRelatedImmanuel Kant s Philosophy And Philosophy1389 Words   |  6 Pagesreferred his epistemology as â€Å"critical philosophy† since all he wanted to do was critique reason and sort our legitimate claims of reasons from illegitimate ones. His epistemology says that we can have an objective, universal, and necessary knowledge of the world, and that science cannot tell us about reality. He claims science cannot tell us anything because it only tells us about the world as it is perceived, whether it’s based on measures, manipulations, experiments and so on. 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