PHIL 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Richard Dawkins, Omnipotence, Logical Possibility
Aquinas’ Second Way
● “In the world… efficient causes come in series”
● “We… cannot find… that something is its own efficient cause”
● “The series of efficient causes cannot possibly go back to infinity”
● “We must therefore posit a first efficient cause”
● “...which everyone understands to be God”
Aquinas’ Third Way (arg. From contingent things)
● “Some things… can either exist or fail to exist”
● “It is impossible… that everything has being of this sort”
● “There must be something in the world that exists of necessity”
● “Either this necessity is or is not caused by something else”
● “The series… cannot possibly go back to infinity”
● “Must therefore posit something that is necessary per se”
● “This everyone understands to be God”
● It is impossible for contingent things to not be preceded by something that is necessary
● The idea that nothing can come from nothing
● If you agree, then there can’t have been something contingent.
● Something necessary existed to make everything else exist
IDEA: Are you looking at nothing as lack of existence? Or as an existent concept?
1st way -> unchanged changer
3rd way -> necessary something
“There is absolutely no reason to endow that terminator [of the infinite regress] with any of the
properties normally ascribed to God: Omnipotence, omniscience, goodness, creativity of design,
to say nothing of such human attributes as listening to prayers, forgiving sins…” -Richard
Dawkins
Thomas (13th century)
● Thomas Cajetan
● Thomas Suarez
● There IS something that sustains all changes and does not change itself, but that does
not mean that there is a perfectly good being, and perfectly omnipotent being called
God.
● There IS something that is necessary but it does not mean ^
Hume’s (or Cleanthes’) Argument Against
● “Nothing is demonstrable, unless the contrary implies a contradiction. Nothing, that is
distinctly conceivable, implies a contradiction. Whatever we conceive as existent, we can
also conceive as non-existent. There is no Being, therefore, whose non-existence
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
In the world efficient causes come in series . We cannot find that something is its own efficient cause . The series of efficient causes cannot possibly go back to infinity . We must therefore posit a first efficient cause . Some things can either exist or fail to exist . It is impossible that everything has being of this sort . There must be something in the world that exists of necessity . Either this necessity is or is not caused by something else . The series cannot possibly go back to infinity . Must therefore posit something that is necessary per se . It is impossible for contingent things to not be preceded by something that is necessary. The idea that nothing can come from nothing. Something necessary existed to make everything else exist. If you agree, then there can"t have been something contingent.
