Metaphysics: The Existence of God
● Having established the existnece of an objective world and the reality of
comlex forms and sentient beingswhich inhabit it, questions arise as to orgin
and purpose.
● Hence, one of the major pre-occupations of Metaphisics is the questiopn
concering the existence of God.
Aristotoles Causality
● Effeicetn Casue: The «agent» that brings about the change.
● Material Casue: The «stuff» pt of which things are made.
● Formal Casue: Identifies the essentail distingusihng characterictics.
● Final Casue: Determines the purpose of the form (Telos)
● Aristoltles for distent and obseravle casues logically and completely address
the «reality» we need to explain and understand. The «Efficient» and «Final»
casues speak to logical conclusion that things don;t come into exiitence by
sheer accident orpurposeless chabnce! These set the stage for sound
arehuments for the existence of God.
Three Historica Arguments for the Existence of God
1. Thge ontological Argumnt
2. The Csomological Argument
3. The Teleological Argument
#1 The Ontological Argument
● The term “Ontology” is derived from two Greek words “Ontos” (being) and
“Logia” (word or the study of) and therefore literally means “the study of
being”.
● More specifically, “Ontology” is the study of the universal and necessary
characteristics of being and existence.
What is the ontological Argument?
● In Metaphysics, the ontological argument for the existence of God is an
argument that the real objective existence of God is necessarily involved in
the existence of the very idea of God.
● The existence of God is deduced from the perceived nature of God’s being.
#2 The Cosmological Argument
● The term “Cosmological” is also derived from two Greek Terms “Cosmos”
(the universe) and “Logia” (word of study of) and therefore literally means
the study of the universe.
● In Metaphysics, the cosmological argument is an argument for the existence
of God which claims that there must be an ultimate casual explanation for
why the universe as a totality or whole exists.
Cosmological Argument for the existence for the existence of God
● Are arguments which speak of the necessity of ultimate causality or a first
cause for the universe and all that exists in it and often attribute this ultimate
cause to God.
#3 The Teleological Argument
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● It is an argument form design or final purpose.
● There is much in the universe that is inherently intricate and manifestly
complex.
● Complexity implies design and purpose and this cannot be accidental.
Anselm’s Ontological Argument
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● St. Anselm built his argument on the presupposition of faith. He believed that
without faith or belief in God, there was no real understanding of God. “Credo
ut Intelligam” (I believe in order that I may understand)
● St. Anselm defined God as “that being which none greater can be conceived”.
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● In St. Anselm’s own words… “There is so truly being that which nothing
greater can be conceived to exist, that it cannot ever be conceived not to
exist, and this being thou art O Lord, our God”.
● His personal faith notwithstanding, Anselm believed that the existence of
God is necessarily involved in the existence of the very idea of God.
● What logical fallacy might St. Anselm be guilty of?
● If the mind is “tabula rasa” where do our ideas of “perfection” and
“omniscience” come from?
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● St. Anselm’s ontological argument is somewhat problematic philosophically
and theologically. Why? In what ways?
● The Angelic Doctor of the Church, “St. Thomas Aquinas”, taught that God is
not in any genus (class or kind) and not even in the gens of being and it
follows that he can’t be defined.
● If God was defined as a being, even a supreme being, it could be argued that
God plus the world would be greater than God alone.
● This would mean that the Supreme Being is not “that being which none
grater can be thought”.
● God is a mystery. The Catechism states: “God transcends all creatures. We
must therefore continually purify our language of everything in it that is
limited, image bound, or imperfect, if we are not to confuse our image of God
‘the in expressible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the ungraspable’ with
our human representations. Our human words always fall short of the
mystery of God” (CCC #42)
● St. Thomas Aquinas never defined God or explained what God is, he rather
explained what God was not.
● God is not “a being” or a “supreme being” among other beings but rather God
is “Being itself” (ipsum esse)
Theological and Cosmological
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
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● His famous 5 rational proofs for the existence of God are “Cosmological” and
“Theological” and all of them being with and follow observations gleaned
from the universe.
● He cautioned that while his proofs may tell us something about God by
analogy at best, the knowledge his profs give us will always remain imperfect
and incomplete because of the “vast gulf” between humans and God
I. From the Observation of Motion in the Universe
● Argument #1 Aquinas deduced that the unmoved “Prime Mover” is
what we call God.
● Unlike anything in the universe, God imparts motion to everything
without moving and therefore without being in time or being
material.
II. From the Observation of Causality in the Universe
● Argument #2 Aquinas deduced that the uncases “First Cause” is
what we call God.
● Unlike anything we know, God is the uncreated creator that causes
everything to exist.
III. From the Observation of Contingency, Necessity, and Dependence in the
Universe
● Argument 3# Aquinas deduced that there must be a self-
existent (non-contingent) necessary being and this is what we
call God.
● Unlike anything in our experience, God cannot cease to exist,
has no beginning and no end, because God’s existence does not
depend on anything else.
IV. From the Observation of Degrees of Perfection (imperfections regarding
goodness truth and existence) observed in the Universe
● Argument #4 Aquinas deduced there must be a perfect being
and this is what we call God.
● Unlike anything in the Universe, God is perfect goodness,
perfect truth, and perfect existence.
V. From the Observation of the Design and Purpose for things in the Universe
● Argument #5 Aquinas deduced that the “Designer” is what we
call God.
● Unlike anything in the universe, god is the supremely wise
intelligence in whom all the order in the Universe originates.
Modern Teleological Arguments for the Existence of God
William Payley (1743-1804)
● Offered the famous “watchmaker analogy” a rather simple and somewhat
modern teleological argument of the existence of God.
Payley’s Teleological Argument
SLIDE UNDER “Modern Teleological Arguments for the Existence of God”
● We notice more: we find a series of wheels, the teeth of which catch in, and
apply to each other, conducting the motion to th balance and from the
balance to the pointer. Further, we notice that the wheels are made of brass
to prevent rust: the springs of steel (no other metal being so elastic): that
over the face of the watch there is places a glass, a material employed in no
other part of the work,
● Every observation which was made concerning the watch may need repeated
with strict propriety concerning the eye, animals, plants, - indeed all the
organized parts of the world of nature. The eye would be alone sufficient to
support the conclusion which we draw from it, as to the necessary of an
intelligent Creator” (Natural Theology 1802)
● According to Paley, the inference form the observation of the intricate design
of the universe to the conclusion of a universe-maker who constructed and
designed its use would be inevitable.
● What do you think? Does the inherent complexity in the universe and the
inherent complexity even at the level of DNA suggest and purpose and
therefore a designer? Can this complexity be accidental and purposeless?
