In response to Aquinas, pt 1
I've decided to see if I can disprove the arguments set forth for the existence of God by St. Thomas Aquinas, to at least my own satisfaction if not the satisfaction of he, Aristotle, Plato and the like. This particular part will deal with the idea of first cause. The argument goes, essentially, as follows:
1) Everything that exists was caused to exist by another thing.
2) The chain of causation cannot be traversed to infinity.
3) Therefore, there must be a thing, at some point in the chain, that caused everything else to exist, but was not caused to exist by any other thing.
4) That thing must be God.
Ignoring the logical leap between "This is a thing that existed before any other thing" and "This thing is everywhere at once, knows everything, can do anything, and loves everybody", this argument has 1 major flaw. It starts by saying that everything must have a cause, and ends with the proposal that there is a thing that does not have a cause. It's entirely self-contradictory. Let's break it down to an Aristotelian syllogism, to try to illustrate my point further:
1) All things that exist are things that have causes.
2) God is a thing that does not have a cause.
3) Therefore, God is not a thing that exists.
If you still want to argue, rationally, that God exists, you have to throw out the first point, that all things that exist have causes. This, however, is the foundation of the entire argument, and to say that one thing can exist without having been caused by another is to say that it is at least possible, if not likely, that anything can exist without being caused by another thing to exist. Tommy doesn't have a leg to stand on, at least on this point. If you still believe that the existence of God can be proven by unaided reason, like the early church did, then you are left with one less weapon in your arsenal. Then again, the early church also believed that insanity could be cured by poking holes in you to let the demons out, and that having lady parts made you inherently crazy anyway (ever notice how similar the words 'hysteria' and 'hysterectomy' are? Look it up).
Next time I feel like it, we'll tackle the argument that God brings justice to the world.
1) Everything that exists was caused to exist by another thing.
2) The chain of causation cannot be traversed to infinity.
3) Therefore, there must be a thing, at some point in the chain, that caused everything else to exist, but was not caused to exist by any other thing.
4) That thing must be God.
Ignoring the logical leap between "This is a thing that existed before any other thing" and "This thing is everywhere at once, knows everything, can do anything, and loves everybody", this argument has 1 major flaw. It starts by saying that everything must have a cause, and ends with the proposal that there is a thing that does not have a cause. It's entirely self-contradictory. Let's break it down to an Aristotelian syllogism, to try to illustrate my point further:
1) All things that exist are things that have causes.
2) God is a thing that does not have a cause.
3) Therefore, God is not a thing that exists.
If you still want to argue, rationally, that God exists, you have to throw out the first point, that all things that exist have causes. This, however, is the foundation of the entire argument, and to say that one thing can exist without having been caused by another is to say that it is at least possible, if not likely, that anything can exist without being caused by another thing to exist. Tommy doesn't have a leg to stand on, at least on this point. If you still believe that the existence of God can be proven by unaided reason, like the early church did, then you are left with one less weapon in your arsenal. Then again, the early church also believed that insanity could be cured by poking holes in you to let the demons out, and that having lady parts made you inherently crazy anyway (ever notice how similar the words 'hysteria' and 'hysterectomy' are? Look it up).
Next time I feel like it, we'll tackle the argument that God brings justice to the world.