Does God Exist?: A Socratic Dialogue on the Five Ways of Thomas Aquinas by Fradd Matt & Delfino Robert

Author:Fradd, Matt & Delfino, Robert [Fradd, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: En Route Books & Media
Published: 2018-02-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

The Fifth Way:

Argument from Finality

AJ: Hey, good morning! I think this is the first time I’ve arrived before you. I got you a coffee.

Lucy: Thanks so much. Look at you with your notes out and all ready to go.

AJ: Ha! What can I say? I love arguing about the big things. Want me to read the fifth way?

Lucy: Actually, would you mind if I read it? I’ll explain why in a second.

AJ: Sure.

Lucy: Okay.

The fifth way is taken from the governance of the world. We see that things which lack intelligence, such as natural bodies, act for an end, and this is evident from their acting always, or nearly always, in the same way, so as to obtain the best result. From this it is obvious that they achieve their end not by chance but by natural inclination. Now whatever lacks intelligence cannot move towards an end, unless it be directed by some being endowed with knowledge and intelligence; as the arrow is shot to its mark by the archer. Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God. 80

AJ: Wait, is that a different translation or something?

Lucy: It is.

AJ: You changed the part … hold on a sec … okay, here it is: “Hence it is plain that not fortuitously, but designedly, do they achieve their end.”

Lucy: Wow, you’ve had your coffee this morning! You’re right, I think what I read is a better translation.

AJ: Why?

Lucy: Before I can explain that, we need to understand the argument. How would you summarize it?

AJ: Okay, I ’ d say that everything we see appears as if it were designed to act for a goal. Seeds grow into flowers, never chickens. Bees collect nectar from flowers to make honey and to help flowers reproduce. Thomas wants to say that the only explanation for this appearance of design is that there is a God directing it all. But surely evolution has done away with this argument, which may have sounded plausible in the 13th century when Aquinas lived. 81

Lucy: Still relying on Dawkins, I see.

AJ: Why not? He’s a biologist, unlike Aquinas.

Lucy: That’s true, but the fifth way isn’t only about living beings. Many atheists misunderstand this point. They seem to think that if evolution is true, then the argument fails.

AJ: That’s kinda what I was thinking, too.

Lucy : I can see why you’d think that, since Thomas’s argument isn’t very long. But actually, Thomas isn’t talking only about living beings; he’s talking about non-living things—such as stones and fire—as well. In his conclusion he says, “All natural things are directed to their end.”

AJ: Stones and fire?

Lucy: Yeah, Thomas didn’t know about modern physics, obviously; he thought that heavy objects, such as stones, have a natural inclination to fall, and conversely, that light objects, such as fire, have a natural inclination to rise. 82 His examples aren’t the best, granted, but his general point is sound.

AJ: How is it sound?

Lucy: Well, I mean, scientists have discovered that many non-living things act for an end.

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