Saint Thomas Aquinas. (7/1/2010). In Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (6th ed., pp. 1-2).
Magee, J. M. (1996-2008). Thomistic Philosophy: the enduring thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Retrieved from http://www.aquinasonline.com/
Gracyk, T. (2004) St. Thomas Aquinas: The Existence of god can be proved in five ways. Retrieved from
http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/aquinasFiveWays_ArgumentAnalysis.htm
Strayer, J. (n.d.). St. Thomas Aquinas and the Problem of Evil (PDF Document). Retrieved from
http://users.ipfw.edu/strayerj/Intro-Phil/Handouts/Aquinas on Evil.PDF
Aquinas, T. (1947). Summa Theologica (Translation). Retrieved from Sacred Texts database.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Jersey Shore, Season 2
I just watched an episode of Jersey Shore the other day, and I didn’t even know people like that existed. Most human beings are reason-using creatures, except for these people. They run around doing whatever they want, not using reason at all. You should see some of the things these people do, I was completely speechless.
The lex naturalis, or “law of human nature” is a moral law that says people need to do good, avoid evil, have families, live at peace with their neighbors, and pursue knowledge. None of the people on the show obey that law, at least not that I have seen. In fact, they do the exact opposite. They don’t really do any good, and instead of avoiding evil, they go looking for it. It seems like they are constantly trying to start trouble with each other. There’s no way any of these people are going to have children or families anytime soon, they still have a lot of growing up to do. They are definitely not at peace with each other, and I don’t think any of them really want to pursue knowledge.
The Jersey Shore personalities have almost no morals, since they do not follow the lex naturalis. Some of the things they did shocked me. The only things they cared about were how they looked, and what the next drama is going to be. I don’t think that the show is appropriate at all; it teaches society that it is okay to not follow the lex naturalis, which is an important part of society. If everybody didn’t follow the lex naturalis we would all be like the personalities from Jersey Shore, and the world would be a terrible place to live in. It’s a good thing that most people follow the lex naturalis, Jersey Shore shows an important lesson in what happens when people don’t.
The Recent Election
Governments are necessary for humans to survive alongside each other, because people cannot get the necessities of life by themselves. A central group of people working together is needed. A kingship is the best option, but there needs to be some democracy and aristocracy mixed in because kingship is the most likely to fall to tyranny. Aristotle was right in the fact that a government should have many people, to represent people from all the different communities.
America has a good government system; the president is almost like a king, but there is some democracy and aristocracy mixed in. For example, the president is elected by the people instead of being born into ruling. Congress is also a good component, because it contains the Senate and the House. The Senate and the House are great because they have many people in them, and the people are representing all the different communities.
The most important part of a government is the people that run it, so even though the U.S. has a good structure of government, it doesn’t mean that the people who run it are good as well. There was a recent election held for the congressmen in the Senate and the House, and the house switched from Democratic to Republican rule. However, the senate stayed in Democratic possession. It is good that the Republicans took control of the house because now one part of congress is Republican, and the other is Democratic. That makes the congress is balanced, so each party has a chance to make decisions. Before, the Democrats had control of everything so the Republican Party had very little say in the government, but now the government is more balanced.
Before the election, the government was more unequal giving one party an advantage, but both parties need to have a say in the government. The competition between the two parties only betters the government by making it more equal.
The most important part of a government is the people that run it, so even though the U.S. has a good structure of government, it doesn’t mean that the people who run it are good as well. There was a recent election held for the congressmen in the Senate and the House, and the house switched from Democratic to Republican rule. However, the senate stayed in Democratic possession. It is good that the Republicans took control of the house because now one part of congress is Republican, and the other is Democratic. That makes the congress is balanced, so each party has a chance to make decisions. Before, the Democrats had control of everything so the Republican Party had very little say in the government, but now the government is more balanced.
Before the election, the government was more unequal giving one party an advantage, but both parties need to have a say in the government. The competition between the two parties only betters the government by making it more equal.
Faith and Reason: How can we believe what we can't prove?
Do faith and reason contradict each other? How can you prove that God exists?
It seems like the idea that God exists is self-evident, but how do you demonstrate it?
Everyone has the knowledge of God, so it only makes sense that he exists. It is kind of like the existence of truth; you can't prove that truth exists, but it's self-evident that it does. Everyone understands that God is something which there is nothing greater than. This proves that God exists mentally, but not actually. It is hard to argue whether God exists actually.
The existence of God can be proved in five ways.
The first way is motion. Everything in motion was put in motion by something else, so there had to be some initial mover, and that was God. Aristotle came up with the concept of the unmoved mover. The unmoved mover moved without being moved by any prior action, and this set the universe in motion.
The second way is the efficient cause. Through the concept of cause and effect one can understand that if the effect exists, the cause must have existed before it. In this case, there must have been a first efficient cause to cause everything else, which we accept as God.
The third way is from possibility and necessity. Everything comes into existence and goes out of existence. This means that there could have been a time when nothing existed. Nothing can possibly have come from nothing. God must have caused the existence of beings.
The fourth way is the gradation of things. Some things are better or worse than other things. There must be something which is the best and most perfect and good, which caused all the perfection and goodness in all other things. We call this thing God.
The fifth way is the governance of the world. Everything works toward some goal, but all natural beings lack intelligence. Some intelligent being must exist that everything is directed at, and that must be God.
Ultimately, God is the first cause of all things, so therefore he must exist.
It seems like the idea that God exists is self-evident, but how do you demonstrate it?
Everyone has the knowledge of God, so it only makes sense that he exists. It is kind of like the existence of truth; you can't prove that truth exists, but it's self-evident that it does. Everyone understands that God is something which there is nothing greater than. This proves that God exists mentally, but not actually. It is hard to argue whether God exists actually.
The existence of God can be proved in five ways.
The first way is motion. Everything in motion was put in motion by something else, so there had to be some initial mover, and that was God. Aristotle came up with the concept of the unmoved mover. The unmoved mover moved without being moved by any prior action, and this set the universe in motion.
The second way is the efficient cause. Through the concept of cause and effect one can understand that if the effect exists, the cause must have existed before it. In this case, there must have been a first efficient cause to cause everything else, which we accept as God.
The third way is from possibility and necessity. Everything comes into existence and goes out of existence. This means that there could have been a time when nothing existed. Nothing can possibly have come from nothing. God must have caused the existence of beings.
The fourth way is the gradation of things. Some things are better or worse than other things. There must be something which is the best and most perfect and good, which caused all the perfection and goodness in all other things. We call this thing God.
The fifth way is the governance of the world. Everything works toward some goal, but all natural beings lack intelligence. Some intelligent being must exist that everything is directed at, and that must be God.
Ultimately, God is the first cause of all things, so therefore he must exist.
If God is so great, how does evil exist?
If god is all-good and all-powerful, why would he allow evil to exist?
There are two basic types of evil in the world, moral evils and natural evils. Moral evils are caused by the free will of people, so God can't be blamed for them. Natural evils, such as natural disasters, diseases, and death are harder to explain. God should be able to prevent them. The existence of these natural evils suggest that God could not exist.
The only explanation for God to allow evil is that good would somehow come out of it. Assuming God is all-good and all-powerful, he wouldn't directly allow evil for no reason. Therefore there must be good brought about by the evil.
"Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good." Evil is the absence of good, and all things are good by nature. All material things are susceptible to corruption however, and this is a necessary fact. Evil has no direct cause; it is only caused accidentally. For example, the better a fire is, the more it harms what is around it. The fire itself is not evil; its goal is not to destroy but to perfect itself, and by doing so it accidentally causes harm. Overall, evil cannot wholly destroy good.
Another example is in predators and prey. A lion could not live if it did not kill prey to eat. It is not evil because it is simply doing what is necessary for it to live. The evil in this case is indirect and accidental. Evil is necessary to perfect the universe.
As Augustine says, "Since God is the highest good, He would not allow any evil to exist in His works, unless His omnipotence and goodness were such as to bring good even out of evil." This is partly was makes God so infinitely good.
I wrote extensively about my views on the problem of evil in my work, Summa Theologica.
There are two basic types of evil in the world, moral evils and natural evils. Moral evils are caused by the free will of people, so God can't be blamed for them. Natural evils, such as natural disasters, diseases, and death are harder to explain. God should be able to prevent them. The existence of these natural evils suggest that God could not exist.
The only explanation for God to allow evil is that good would somehow come out of it. Assuming God is all-good and all-powerful, he wouldn't directly allow evil for no reason. Therefore there must be good brought about by the evil.
"Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good." Evil is the absence of good, and all things are good by nature. All material things are susceptible to corruption however, and this is a necessary fact. Evil has no direct cause; it is only caused accidentally. For example, the better a fire is, the more it harms what is around it. The fire itself is not evil; its goal is not to destroy but to perfect itself, and by doing so it accidentally causes harm. Overall, evil cannot wholly destroy good.
Another example is in predators and prey. A lion could not live if it did not kill prey to eat. It is not evil because it is simply doing what is necessary for it to live. The evil in this case is indirect and accidental. Evil is necessary to perfect the universe.
As Augustine says, "Since God is the highest good, He would not allow any evil to exist in His works, unless His omnipotence and goodness were such as to bring good even out of evil." This is partly was makes God so infinitely good.
I wrote extensively about my views on the problem of evil in my work, Summa Theologica.
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