Overview
This lecture introduces Thomas Aquinas’s synthesis of faith and reason, his distinctions between types of knowledge, and his five arguments for God’s existence.
Thomas Aquinas: Background and Significance
- Thomas Aquinas was a 13th-century Italian monk and philosopher.
- Major works: Summa Contra Gentiles (philosophy) and Summa Theologiae (systematic theology).
- Aquinas synthesized Christian theology with Aristotle’s philosophy, unlike previous thinkers who favored Plato.
- His views are central to the question of what it means to be human.
Faith and Reason: Aquinas’s Approach
- Aquinas argued that faith and reason are not in conflict but are complementary.
- Early civilizations did not see a problem integrating reason and religious belief.
- Faith is often seen today as contrary to reason, but Aquinas challenges this.
- All knowledge requires some foundational beliefs or assumptions.
Two Categories of Knowledge About God
- Some knowledge (e.g., the Trinity) requires divine revelation and cannot be attained by reason alone.
- Other knowledge (e.g., God’s existence) can be discovered through human reason.
- Both types of knowledge are valid and form a taxonomy of how we know things.
Limits of Human Reason
- Human reason alone could only lead a few people to knowledge about God.
- Gaining such knowledge through reason would take a long time and require maturity.
- Human reason is prone to error and cannot fully grasp God’s substance.
The Role of Divine Revelation
- Divine revelation is necessary for truths that exceed human reason.
- Theology (the science of God) uses philosophy to clarify its teachings.
- All reasoning begins with basic assumptions (articles of faith) that are not themselves proven.
Self-Evidence and Proof of God’s Existence
- Some truths are self-evident in themselves; others can be made evident through argument.
- Aquinas critiques Anselm’s ontological argument for lacking persuasiveness.
- Aquinas prefers a posteriori (from experience) arguments based on observable effects.
Aquinas’s Five Ways (Arguments for God’s Existence)
- Argument from Motion: Everything in motion is moved by something else; there must be a first mover (God).
- Argument from Causation: Nothing can cause itself; there must be a first cause (God).
- Argument from Contingency: Not everything can be contingent; there must be a necessary being (God).
- Argument from Gradation: Degrees of goodness, truth, etc., imply a maximum; this ultimate standard is God.
- Argument from Design: Natural things act towards ends; this purposeful order suggests an intelligent designer (God).
Key Terms & Definitions
- Faith — Belief in truths revealed by God, not attainable by reason alone.
- Reason — Human capacity to think logically and derive knowledge from experience.
- Divine revelation — Knowledge given by God through scripture or supernatural means.
- A posteriori — Knowledge or arguments derived from experience or observable effects.
- Contingency — The quality of depending on something else for existence.
- Necessary being — A being whose existence is not dependent on anything else; must exist.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review Aquinas’s Five Ways in the assigned readings.
- Consider how Aquinas distinguishes between knowledge gained by faith and by reason.
- Prepare for discussion on the implications of Aquinas’s arguments for the understanding of humanity.