The Existence Of Saint Thomas Aquinas And Ren� Descartes

God’s existence has long been a topic of controversy, one that spans the course of many centuries and––because of its nature––will never be resolved. Two notable philosophers have attempted to prove God’s existence: Saint Thomas Aquinas and Renà © Descartes. Despite having been influenced by the former, Descartes’ arguments––while similar to Aquinas’––are reached through noticeably different methods. To analyze Aquinas’ proof for God’s existence, it is important to first analyze his definition of God––or â€Å"How We Know God†Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ¢â‚¬â€œ as outlined in the Summa of Theology (Qu. 12). Simply put by Aquinas, â€Å"[God] is (1) the cause of all, and that creatures differ from him in that (2) he is not a part of the things that he has caused, and that they are†¦show more content†¦An effect must have a cause, which as an effect must then have a cause, whi ch as an effect must then have a cause, and so forth. While this argument attempts to prove the existence of God to a religious audience, it is nevertheless scientifically sound. As Newton’s third law of motion states, an object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest, less an outside force acts on it. Aquinas, despite having no knowledge of Newtonian physics) simply makes the assumption that God must be this initial cause to put the very first object into motion. Similarly, in the fifth argument, Aquinas addresses what he views as the improbability that objects in nature without rationale (animals, plants, etc) can perfectly fulfill their given purpose, without someone manipulating and planning it. Therein, Aquinas finds a foothold to help prove the existence of God. However, as we will see in the fourth argument, Aquinas has a hole in his reasoning––namely through his groundless assumption that there is a manipulator/planner of the world and that said planner is God. Of the five, the fourth argument is most unique of the five and perhaps the soundest––it does not rely on a causal argument like the first three and it has already been considered by past philosophers (Aristotle). In his fourth argument, a conclusion is reached by implementing Aristotelian logic. Aquinas addresses the method through which we determine what is more or less, greater or lower, better