A Comparison Between Aquinas’ Analogical View with Dionysius’ Via Negativa
Via Negativa was a theory which was first used by Dionysius, and it is
a theory which looks at how we can go about describing God. God is not
an object in the universe and, therefore, it is not possible to
describe God through words and concepts which are necessarily
limiting. It is, instead, better to talk about God based upon what God
is not, in other words we can deny God the sort of qualities, and,
therefore limitations that might apply to other beings. The via
negativa is a means of coming to know God and what God is through
negation.
This view is contrasted by Aquinas who has a more Analogical view. The
Analogical view looks at how it is possible to apply words that
describe human qualities, and characteristics to help the
understanding of God. It’s just that people need to realise that there
is a difference between the way which a word is used to describe human
characteristics, and the way in which the same word is applied to God.
The Via Negativa doesn’t accept that everyday words can be used to
describe God because they apply human characteristics onto
something/someone who is finite, and therefore not part of this world.
But Aquinas says that we only have our everyday language to talk about
God. Through the use of Analogy Aquinas believes that we can reach an
understanding of what God is. He based his theory on these two
analogous techniques.
v An analogy of proportion occurs when a word is employed to refer to
a quality that a thing possesses in proportion to the kind of reality
it possesses. E.g. dogs are loyal in the way in which dogs can be
loyal, and humans are loyal in proportion to the loyalty of the human
being. Similarly one can understand God as all powerful, as we have a
human understanding of power. Although God is proportionally more
powerful than humans, even though we do not have a full understanding
Saint Thomas of Aquainas may have been one of the greatest thinkers who attempted to bridge the proverbial gap between faith and reason. His Sacred Doctrine which was the initial part of his Summa Theologica was the basis for his conclusion about the existence of God. Aquinas tended to align his beliefs close with Aristotle's supposition that there must be an eternal and imputrescible creator. In comparison, Anselm's impressions were influenced largely by Plato. In his text Proslogion he outlined his Ontological argument that regarding the existence of God. It was simply that God was the ultimate and most perfect being conceivable, and that his state of existing is greater than not existing therefore god, being perfect in every way, must exist. This is where their paths divide, and although they essentially reach the same determination they paint the picture quite differently.
3 & 4. 27 B.C – A.D 68 by unknown artist, but restored by Pacetti Vincenzo
Aquinas’ second proof for the existence of God is a sound argument. Aquinas’ argument about the efficient/agent cause is philosophically persuasive because it is easy to apply to things. The second proof is based on the notion of the efficient cause. The efficient cause is based on a chain of cause and effects. Aquinas does a suitable job in proving God’s existence through the order of caused causes through the world of sense.
Thomas Aquinas’ many-sided theory of goodness is that it can be found in all things in some way, and Christopher Hughes deeply explores this in his reading Aquinas on Being, Goodness, and God.
This course dove into medieval history and touched on all of the most critical elements of the period giving a well-rounded look into the lives and cultures of the middle ages. As the class moved forward it became evident that religion is central to understanding the people, advances, and set backs of this period. We learned how inseparable the middle ages and religion are due to how completely it consumed the people, affected the art, and furthered academics. Since, there is a tendency to teach about history and literature separately from religion and since religion possessed a dominant position in every aspect of a medieval person’s life, while many of us had already looked into the period we missed some crucial cultural context allowing
For instance, deception only relies on imperfection, while that is not God, which makes God a non-deceiver. The idea of God is something that would not just come naturally. It is not ordinary living and just thinking of God. The idea of God as a whole must be created by God. If humans are finite, and God is infinite, how could one possibly have the thought of such an infinite being?
Aquinas' Arguments for the Existence of God In Summa Theologica, Question 2, Article 3, Aquinas attempts to prove the existence of God. He begins with two objections, which will not be addressed here, and continues on to state five arguments for the existence of God. I intend to show that Aquinas' first three arguments are unsound from a scientific standpoint, through support of the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe. In the first and second arguments Aquinas begins by stating that some things change and that the changes to these things are caused by things other than themselves. He says that a thing can change only if it has a potentiality for being that into what it changes.
Myths and religious doctrine are generally recognized as two entirely different things. Myths are usually referred to as a fictitious story or a half-truth; often they are stories shared between groups of people that are part of a cultural society. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, and purpose of the universe, and often containing an ethical code dictating appropriate human conduct. Although they differ in certain aspects, they still hold similarities. Comparable to parables within the Bible, myths have different versions which are both motivating, as well as entertaining. There are not only parallels to the idea of the stories but specific tales hold similar morals and equivalent characters.
The drama, “Romeo and Juliet”, shares many similarities to the ancient text, “Pyramus and Thisbe”. Even though these two tales’ origins are far apart in geographical location and time period, they are surprisingly related. This proves the truth of universal themes. Universal themes are ideas that span nations because of their relevance to mankind. True love and death is the universal theme of the two tales. “Romeo and Juliet” can compare to “Pyramus and Thisbe” for three reasons; the lovers come from disagreeing families, the tales are both tragedy, and they are based on misconception and ill-timing.
Aquinas’ Cosmological Arguments The Cosmological Argument for the existence of God, as propounded by Thomas Aquinas, also known as the Third Way. It is the third of Five Ways in Aquinas's masterpiece, "The Summa" (The Five Ways). The five ways are: the unmoved mover, the uncaused causer, possibility and. necessity, goodness, truth and nobility and the last way the teleological.
Due to the centrality of God in his philosophy, Thomas Aquinas is dismissed as an “idol” in the project of Friedrich Nietzsche. Aquinas, according to Nietzsche, builds his account of truth on religious presuppositions where “the effect of what is believed true is mistaken for truth” hence “falling entirely under the psychology of error” (Nietzsche). Aquinas treats religious doctrines as if they are outside the jurisdiction of reason. For Nietzsche, Aquinas mistakenly presents a view of the world that is neither objective nor able to be subjected to scientific analysis. These initial problems with Aquinas’ view noted by Nietzsche lead to contradictions in his positions. Nietzsche calls for a revaluation of all values, even after his assertion that we cannot perceive or know a phenomenon from the “outside” from an objective position, presents the problem that he then proceeds to do so in his work. Hence, his philosophy ultimately becomes either relativism or contradiction. For Nietzsche’s system to escape contradiction he must either admit to relativism, build a new epistemology, or recognize the same premises that systems such as Aquinas’ are built upon. Thus Nietzsche enters into the competition among other systems and validates the possibility of some other position’s correctness.
The purpose of this paper is to argue for the idea that even without a God, there can be a basis for morality. The structure of my argument will proceed as follows. I will begin my paper with the background information of the idea that without a God, specifically the Christian God, there is no moral basis. After detailing this false belief, I will go on to explain why it is indeed untrue due to various reasons. I will bring forth the conflicting views of St. Thomas Aquinas and the natural law theory before countering the arguments brought up by them.
One common perception of God is that God is not so much a being, but according to seventeenth century philosopher Benedict Spinoza, that "God is everything, identical to the universe itself." That is to say that God is a part of all humans, all animals, all objects, and all matter in the universe. This particular view is called pantheism, which is literally defined to mean that there is no God, but only the combined forces and laws that are manifested in the existing universe. According to Spinoza, we are each and all an integral part of God, not as individuals or even humanity as a whole but as an integral part of what Spinoza called the "One Substance." He also believed that we are each and all components of some greater being, a being so unimaginably large that we are each nothing more than tiny parcels of matter in that being's blood.
As a young child growing up in Jamaica, I often hear people refer to what they do as vocation. It was always jobs that require no formal education such as plumbing or farming and these work were greatly enjoyed by these people. Carpentry for instance was a field that a person chose to do because of the love for it. Nevertheless, these people earned their living through these vocations. My father was a carpenter and yes he did support us by doing what he loved and that was building houses. Was my father fortunate to have found a skill that he liked and got paid for it? He always referred to what he did as a calling and was especially proud because his father was also a carpenter. I do think of teaching in the same manner. In my father’s day I would say that teaching was a vocation but as time changed the words vocation and profession have become compatible. Even though they have become compatible there are certain professions that one should be called to and teaching is one of them. Some people are natural teachers, some have to work hard at it and some just do it for the ...
Metaphysics comes from the Greek terms μετά, or metá, meaning above beyond or after, and φυσικά, or physiká, meaning physics. So at its roots, Metaphysics is the study of everything that lies above physical reality, and of what relationship those things have with it. However, one question arose repeatedly with almost every major metaphysical thinker, which narrowed the scope of metaphysics' targets. In contemplating that which lies after the corporeal, metaphysical minds began to wonder why things existed at all. After all, if things did not have existence, then there would nothing to consider. So, being and existence, which were before just two metaphysical concepts, became the highest powers presiding over the rest of reality, and the first philosopher to completely delineate these concepts would become equally important. This is how the quest for the cause for being began.