Aquinas third way Flashcards
how is this different from the other ways?
this is based on contingency and not causation (motion or atemporal)
what is it about?
based on the contingency claim that everything in the universe is contingent and this dependent upon someone else- that is a necessary being eg god.
what does Aquinas argue?
if everything has an expiry date then at some point everything will expire and cease to exist.
since this has not happened he concludes there must be a permanent being which has no expert date and which all impermanent beings depended on for their existence.
contingent beings characteristics
its existence is dependent on other things
it has a shelf life it came into existence and will one day cease to exist
it might have been different or might have never existed if the past had been different.
non-contingent necessary beings characteristics
has an existence that is independent of everything else
is eternal it has always existed and will never cease to exist
has to exist snd it is impossible that it could be different no matter how past present or future circumstances might vary.
third way in standard form
P1 things in the world are contingent (coming into and passing out of, existence)
P2 if everything was contingent then it is possible there was a time when everything had passed out of existence ( there was nothing)
P3 if once there was nothing then there would be nothing now but this is false (as there is something right now)
C1 therefore not everything is contingent there is one thing that is necessary
C2 this necessary being is god.
issues- p3 doesnt follow from p2
from it is possible that once there was a time when there was nothing it doesn’t follow that once there was nothing.
an alt possibility is that there has been a continuous overlapping contingent being with no gap in which case there is no need to posit the existence of necessary beings.
