Argument map

St. Thomas Aquinas, a philosopher and theologian, offers a cosmological argument defending the existence of God that can be understood first on the basis of dependent and independent beings. A dependent being is one that has a contingent existence. In other words, it could have failed to exist because its existence is brought about by another being. The reason for a dependent being’s existence resides in something else. An independent being, however, has a necessary existence that could not fail…

Descartes’ argument regarding the claims of the existence of God. There are philosophers who claim Descartes commits to a belief that has no foundation and because his argument is circular it holds no weight. There are also philosophers who defend Descartes and claim that he does not commit himself to a foundationless belief and that what seems circular isn’t actually circular. I will be supporting the latter argument and I will show that Descartes doesn’t consign to a circular argument but…

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…

that everything has a chain of cause and effect. That these cause point to a “first efficient cause, which all call God”(72). The third proof for the existence of God is “the natures of the merely possible and necessary”(72). Aquinas’ uses this argument to argue that “not all things are mere accidents, but there must be one necessarily existing being”(73).With this Aquinas seems to be stating that there is a cause and purpose for all things, and that nothing just randomly happened, like some…

The cosmological argument is one theory for the existence of God; it is based upon the existence of a unique being, which is commonly referred to as God. This based upon facts regarding causation, contingency, motion, change and finitude relative to the processes within the universe. In this essay I am going to describe the arguments of Aristotle, one of the founders of this argument and Leibniz, who argues for the principle of sufficient reason; a theory that goes hand in hand with the…

St. Anslem, was a priest during the 11th century he was the first person known to have formed the Ontological argument as we know it; which can be found in the second chapter of his work, The Proslogion. The Ontological argument is not an argument designed to convert the atheist, but to reassure those who have faith or some belief in God, it was meant for the believer seeking understanding, in other words some logic behind their belief. Since only the “fool” knows but does not believe (Psalms…

This article begins with a hypothetical story of discovering a watch on a heath. Paley describes the watch in great detail; the coiled elastic springs, the flexible chain, a series of wheels, etc. He explains how they work together, what they are composed of, and how each aspect of this hypothetical watch is how it is for a reason. The wheels are brass to avoid rusting, the springs are steel because no other metal is so elastic, the face of the watch is glass to protect the watch while the time…

proof for the existence of God he approaches it with the concept of motion. But looking deeper it really is about the issue of actuality and potentiality which Aristotle also used to analyze motion. This proof reminds us that things are in motion and move when potential motion or ‘possibility’ becomes actual motion. This is very similar to Aristotle’s explanation of motion defined as “actuality of a potentiality.” Next Aquinas tell us that only an actual motion can turn potential motion into…

Justine did not at all blow up on Sam so that was a good thing. Since they waited so long to see each other the feelings were brought down so then she had time to think about it. The smoothing method is a very effective method during any sort of argument and I really encourage myself and others to use that method for the greater…

An important topic is being discussed, and it concerns the various concepts of God. Indeed, throughout history humanity have asked the same question with no avail, is there really a God? However, “Philosophers have offered three answers to the “is anyone in charge” question: 1) there is a God, 2) there is no God, and 3) we can’t know whether there is a god or not a God (Roots of Wisdom Pg. 167). The belief that there is a god is called theism. Conversely, the belief that there is not a god is…