Theologica Proof For The Existence Of God Essay

St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica: Proofs for the Existence of God, is a thirteenth century collection of five deductive arguments that, as the name suggests, supposedly prove the existence of God. In these arguments, or proofs, as Aquinas calls them, there is the assumption that there are some things that only God is capable of making happen – such as motion and cause - and ergo, God has to exist for these things to exist. Aquinas' first argument for the existence of God is that of the 'Unmoved Mover', which draws from Aristotle's ideas of acutality and potentiality to summarise that some things are in motion, but they cannot move themselves, a mover is required. Similarly, Aquinas' second argument, the argument of the first cause, states that some things are caused, and for this to happen they must be caused by something else, a 'causer' so to speak. This essay will assert the argument that whilst neither of these arguments are necessarily invalid, both of them are unsound, as although the logic itself has validity, the …show more content…
Another modern philospher, Edward Feser, states that many modern philosophers understand Aquinas' five ways incorectly, as they are not meant to be seen as a complete, comprehensive argument for God's existence, but rather a 'God's existence for dummies', a summary that was aimed towards those who were not yet able to understand the complexities of some of Aquinas' other, more in depth works. However, the idea that these arguments cannot be dissected and evaluated as standalone works is not a valid one, it shirks all need for meaning within each of the the arguments thanks to the fact that meaning is provided contextually, and can only be truly understood when reading the work as a