Arguing for God's existence : Thomas Aquinas's First two ways

Abstract

This essay in philosophical theology is intended to be a critical examination from a contemporary viewpoint of St. Thomas Aquinas's versions of the 'cosmological' argument as found in his First and Second Ways. The Angelic Doctor starts his proofs of divine existence inductively from the observation of empirical data, but then proceeds in his discussion to arrive at God as Supreme Being in a deductive way. This essay consists of five chapters. After a brief introduction in which Aquinas's intention of writing the Quinque Viae is discussed, the second chapter treats the question whether or not divine existence is self-evident. The third chapter states the proofs of the first two Ways, while the fourth brings the major critical comments on these two versions of the 'cosmological' arguments. The concluding chapter discusses if Aquinas has in fact proved God's existence, whether we can arrive to prove divine existence at all, and the attitude and language we have to adopt as regards the issue of God's existence to arrive to any satisfactory answer. This essay contends that there exist evidence and pointers in our everyday life that indicate that a transcendental reality does exist.