PHILO 25

OASM 3

In this module, we read and examine three classical arguments for God’s existence.
First there is Anselm’s ontological argument wherein he presented the idea that God
is that than which nothing greater can be conceived. With this, he put forward two
forms of being: mental being (mind/understanding) and physical being (reality).
However, Anselm posits that the physical form or reality is greater than that
conceived of the mind. Thus, as God is that which nothing greater can be conceived,
then there should be nothing greater than Him that can be conceived and He must
exist in both of these forms.

Thomas Aquinas, on the other hand, presented the “Five Ways” in his classical
cosmological argument, which are five different proofs for the existence of God. The
first he mentioned is the argument from motion. Aquinas stated that it is observable
in the world that some things are in motion, and for something to be in motion, it must
be put into motion by something else. Motion can also be understood as a movement
from potentiality to actuality, however, as something in the state of act has made
something potential into actual, it is impossible for one thing to be at once in act and
potency. For instance, what is already hot cannot be potentially hot. Thus, in the same
way, it is impossible for something to be moved and the mover at the same time, so
whatever is moved must be moved by something else. However, this process cannot
go on in infinity as then there would be no first mover, hence there should be a first
mover that is not moved by anything else, and this is where God comes in. The
second way is the notion of efficient cause or the argument from cause and effect.
Aquinas presents that there is and order of efficient cause: the first is the cause of the
intermediate cause, and the intermediate cause is the cause of the ultimate cause. To
take way a cause is to take away the effect, therefore there is a need for a first cause
and the order of the process of the efficient cause cannot go on for infinity as well as
there would be no first cause if so. Therefore, there needs to be a first cause, a role
which God fulfills. The third way is the argument from possibility and necessity,
which posits that things are possible to be or not to be. However, not all things are
merely possible, thus there must be a being that its existence is necessary. Like the
previous ways, however, the series of necessary beings cannot extend to infinity,
therefore there is a need for the absolutely necessary being, which is God. The fourth
way is taken from the gradation to be found in things or the argument from the
gradation of being. This way presents that there is a degree of perfection observed
among beings. For instance, some may be more or less good, true, noble and so on.
For these, there is a maximum which causes for things to be, such as fire being the
maximum of heat, thus being the cause of hot things. In relation, there must be a
being who is the maximum of perfection and goodness, that being none other than
God Himself. Finally, the fifth way is the argument from the governance of things
which posits that we see things that lack knowledge act for an end, which is achieved
not by chance but by design. However, it is not possible for things that lack
knowledge to move towards and end, therefore it must be directed by someone
endowed with knowledge and intelligence. Thus, some intelligent being that guides
all the natural things in the world to move towards an end exists and this being is what
we know as God.

In relation, in Paley’s classical design argument, he presents the notion that "design"
in nature, such as the complexity, order, purposefulness, and usefulness of living
beings, can only be explained by the existence of a creator or a “designer”. Paley uses
the analogy of the watch and the watchmaker to present his argument of a great
designers. Simply put, if a watch has a watchmaker, then the universe has a universe
maker, that maker being God.