The Five Ways: The five rational arguments that
Thomas Aquinas saw as pointing to the existence of God. The five arguments are
(1) the argument from
motion (all things in motion need a mover, but
there must be something unmoved that begins other things in motion; God is this
Unmoved Mover); (2) the
cosmological argument (all effects must have causes, but
there cannot be an infinite series of causes into the past; thus God is the
first or Uncaused Cause); (3) the argument from
contingency (all things exist in dependence on something
else, that is, contingent; therefore there must be something that is absolutely
independent, that is, necessary; this necessary being is God); (4) the argument
from
perfection (there appears to be an increasing degree of
perfection among things; therefore there must be a being who is the height of
perfection; this Being is God); and (5) the
teleological argument (the observable design in
the world suggests that there must be an intelligent designer -
God)
The Five Ways: The five rational arguments that
Thomas Aquinas saw as pointing to the existence of God. The five arguments are
(1) the argument from motion (all things in motion need a mover, but
there must be something unmoved that begins other things in motion; God is this
Unmoved Mover); (2) the cosmological argument (all effects must have causes, but
there cannot be an infinite series of causes into the past; thus God is the
first or Uncaused Cause); (3) the argument fromcontingency (all things exist in dependence on something
else, that is, contingent; therefore there must be something that is absolutely
independent, that is, necessary; this necessary being is God); (4) the argument
from perfection (there appears to be an increasing degree of
perfection among things; therefore there must be a being who is the height of
perfection; this Being is God); and (5) the teleological argument (the observable design in
the world suggests that there must be an intelligent designer -
God)
