A number of fantastic and friendly individuals recently posted a response to my post on problems for classical theism. In this post, I respond to each of them in turn.
Read more “A Plethora of Problems Reconsidered: Discussing Classical Theism”
From Necessary Being to Unchangeable Being?
One listener to my recent YouTube presentation on the channel Crusade Against Ignorance objects to my claim that the inference from necessary being to unchangeable being is a non-sequitur. Here is that person’s objection:
Media Appearance: Discussing Existential Inertia
I had the privilege of discussing some of my recent research on existential inertia with my friend Micah on Youtube. Here is the link. Enjoy!
An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Quantifier Shifts and the Gap Problem (Part 7)
It is important to understand the background of the argument before undertaking an analysis of objections, so if you have not checked them out, I would suggest reading Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. For each objection, I shall explicate the reasoning behind the objection, followed by an “assessment” section which evaluates the efficacy of the objection in question. Without further ado, let’s examine the fifth and sixth criticisms leveled against Aquinas. Read more “An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Quantifier Shifts and the Gap Problem (Part 7)”
An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: On Infinity (Part 6)
It is important to understand the background of the argument before undertaking an analysis of objections, so if you have not checked them out, I would suggest reading Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. For each objection, I shall explicate the reasoning behind the objection, followed by an “assessment” section which evaluates the efficacy of the objection in question. Without further ado, let’s examine the fourth criticism leveled against Aquinas. Read more “An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: On Infinity (Part 6)”
An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Metaphysical Bootstrapping (Part 5)
It is important to understand the background of the argument before undertaking an analysis of objections, so if you have not checked them out, I would suggest reading Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. For each objection, I shall explicate the reasoning behind the objection, followed by an “assessment” section which evaluates the efficacy of the objection in question. Without further ado, let’s examine the third criticism leveled against Aquinas. Read more “An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Metaphysical Bootstrapping (Part 5)”
An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Quantum Mechanics Contra the Causal Principle? (Part 4)
It is important to understand the background of the argument before undertaking an analysis of objections, so if you have not checked them out, I would suggest reading Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. For each objection, I shall explicate the reasoning behind the objection, followed by an “assessment” section which evaluates the efficacy of the objection in question. Without further ado, let’s examine the second criticism leveled against Aquinas. Read more “An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Quantum Mechanics Contra the Causal Principle? (Part 4)”
An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Eternalism Contra Act and Potency? (Part 3)
In the following parts of the series, I will present and assess the merits of a number of objections to Aquinas’ argument. It is important to understand the background of the argument before undertaking an analysis of objections, so if you have not checked them out, I would suggest reading Part 1 and Part 2. For each objection, I shall explicate the reasoning behind the objection, followed by an “assessment” section which evaluates the efficacy of the objection in question. Without further ado, let’s examine the first criticism leveled against Aquinas. Read more “An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Eternalism Contra Act and Potency? (Part 3)”
An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Formalization (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this series, we introduced Aquinas’ argument from motion and provided some textual exegesis. Given the aforementioned exegesis and explanation, Aquinas’ argument from change can be formalized as follows: Read more “An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Formalization (Part 2)”
An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Introduction (Part 1)
1. Introduction
The Five Ways of demonstrating God’s existence were given systematic treatment by arguably the most renowned and respected Christian philosopher of all time, St. Thomas Aquinas. Born in Italy in the thirteenth century, Aquinas sought to synthesize an Aristotelian framework with a Christian worldview. One integral aspect of this synthesis was Aquinas’ use of Aristotelian metaphysical notions in his arguments for God’s existence — notions such as actuality, potentiality, essence, efficient causation, natural teleology, and so on. In fact, Aquinas goes so far as to characterize his First Way as the more “manifest” way, indicating the centrality of Aristotelianism in his thought.1 Read more “An Appraisal of Aquinas’ First Way: Introduction (Part 1)”