Aquinas: Argument from Motion, Contingency, Causation
Aquinas' Cosmological Arguments
Argument from Motion
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Thomas Aquinas created his Argument from Motion based on the observation that everything in the universe is in motion or changing states.
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Aquinas argued that nothing can move without a mover. This initial mover, he reasoned, must be unmovable itself, or else it would require yet another mover.
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He identified this unmovable mover as God.
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Hence, God is the prime mover who set everything in the universe in motion.
Argument from Contingency
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Aquinas' Argument from Contingency posits that things in the universe exist contingently, meaning they could not exist.
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There must have been a time when no physical things existed, but, if that were true, then there would be nothing that could bring the currently existing contingent beings into existence.
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Aquinas concluded that there must be a necessary being whose existence is not contingent on any other being or thing. This necessary being is identified as God.
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Therefore, God must exist as the necessary being to bring contingent beings into existence.
Argument from Causation
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The Argument from Causation is based on the principle that, in nature, things have a cause and effect.
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Aquinas believed that nothing happens without being caused by something else. He argued that this could not go on ad infinitum, which means an uncaused causer or a first cause must exist.
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He identified this first cause as God, making God the ultimate cause of everything that happens.
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Without the existence of God as the first cause, the sequence of cause and effect in the universe would be infinite and unexplainable.
Key Points to Remember
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The Arguments from Motion, Contingency, and Causation are part of Aquinas' Five Ways, which attempt to prove the existence of God.
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Aquinas argued that behind the motion, contingency, and cause-effect phenomena experienced in the universe, there must be a prime mover, a necessary being, and a first cause, respectively. He identified all of these with God.
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Aquinas' arguments are forms of cosmological arguments for the existence of God. They operate on the principle that the existence and nature of the universe imply the existence of a being who was the cause or explanation for the universe.