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St. Anselm / St. Aquinas - ontological/cosmotological argument

St. Anselm / St. Aquinas - ontological/cosmotological argument - Essay Example

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The ontological argument is a philosophical debate and one of the most strangest and debated of the proofs. Philosophers like Immanuel Kant and G.W.F…

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St. Anselm / St. Aquinas - ontological/cosmotological argument

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The proof is based on the conception that God is a perfect being. The ontological argument points out the following: iii. The argument says that if something exists in our understanding then there are chances for the same to have existed in reality which is likely to be greater. This means something that prevails in reality is great or perfect and something which exists in our minds as a concept is actually greater. The proof is intriguing because it indicates that God is a perfect personality and should exist in all possible settings to fulfill the description of his perfection.

It indicates that a God that prevail only in certain circumstance and fails to prevail in other circumstances is a less perfect personality. The Cosmological argument of St. Thomas Aquinas in Summa theologia explains five ways through which we can know the existence of God. The first three approaches is related to the cosmological argument. i. St.Aquinas begins the cosmological argument by claiming that the world has things in motion which means that things undergo change. The things in motion are set to move by another thing which is in motion.

It is claimed by Aquinas that the thing which sets other thing in motion is a phenomenon that cannot continue to infinity since there will be nothing to make the first move. Therefore, St.Aquinas claims that the elimination of the infinite cycle of motion is possible only if there is a first mover and the basis of all motion is God. ii. The second argument is similar to the first where it is argued that the world of sense experienced by us is an order of efficient causes. The saint means that any circumstance, thing or event cannot make a change itself, but can cause a change which explains the concept of efficient cause.

The chain of causes wherein a string cannot be infinite indicates that the cause of change is attributed to the first cause, God. iii. The third argument states that world is obliged for its existence to

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