Aquinas Essay, Research Paper
According to Aquinas everything is created was created by God. Aquinas made five proofs to proof the God exists and HE created everything. His five proofs are motion, efficient cause, possibility/necessity, gradation, and governance of the world.
Aquinas first proof, the argument of motions is that everything in motion is put into motion by something else. So, nothing can move itself (nothing not in motion can put itself in motion). But then is no beginning because there s no way to start anything. So there must be a first mover and that first mover is God. The problem with this argument is that it contradicts itself. If everything is put into motion by something else there cannot be a fist mover because wouldn t something have to start that (the first mover?) It makes no sense for they re to be no start, because there has to be a start or else it can t get started. Something had to start it because it was not itself started, but is something stared God then HE isn t the first mover. This argument doesn t make any sense.
The second argument is efficient cause. This argument states that nothing causes itself because if it did it would be prior to itself, but there has to be a first cause because if it wasn t there wouldn t be any later causes. So there must be a first cause, which is God. The problem with this argument is if there is a first cause and that first cause is God, how did God begin? Wouldn t he need a cause to begin? If there is no cause there is no effect and isn t God the effect of some cause?
The third proof the argument of possibility/necessity. This is the argument that it is possible for something to be and not to be (i.e. the color of a desk in a room). Anything that can possibly not be does not exist at sometime (i.e. a building). If everything is like this at sometime, then there was nothing (i.e. chalk). But nothing can come from nothing so something must exist necessarily, and that is God. The problem with this argument is that there is a bad premise and a combination fallacy. The second part of the argument states that anything that can possibly not be does not exist at sometime. But something that existed at the beginning of time and still exists, it is not necessary but it exists and if it didn t it wouldn t be noticed.
The fourth argument is the gradation argument. This argument is that some things are more good and some less good, more or less exists as compared to a maximum, so something must be greatest in being. The problem with this proof is when we compare something we don t necessarily compare them to a maximum or a minimum.