Thomas Aquinas

Running head: THESIS MILESTONE 2- AQUINAS FAITH AND Thesis Milestone 2- Aquinas Faith and Reason-Final Walter Mullins March 15, 2014 A-- 189/210 Clear & coherent, very well written. Very well researched and shows a very high degrees of philosophical argumentation (beyond the level of a 1st course student). Covering the counterarguments to your position is ALWAYS good technique in writing and “doing” philosophy. So, your epistemology is committed to the compatibility of “faith” and “reason” existing (simultaneously) – that is – without contradiction. Certainly if one has faith that p is the case and reason finds that indeed p is the case, then there is no incompatibility and all is consistent. But, what happens when reason and faith bring us to contradictory conclusions about the case for p? Which commitment should trump the other? If this is so, then holding to the compatibility of both faith and reason is subject to the charge of begging the question. That is no little charge! But still, your work is excellent and you should be proud of this thesis – I am! BTW a quote from Einstein: “All science requires faith in the harmony of nature. Our longing to understand is eternal.” Well done, SAW  Introduction and Thesis Statement Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), was a Catholic Theologian and a philosopher. He studied and preached, he lectured at universities, he was a prolific writer and he and his teachings are still very relevant today. Thomas studied Aristotle and other philosophers and used his knowledge as a basis for many of his own writings. In the mediaeval times in which he lived, the burning question of the day was how people may come to terms with reason versus faith. “At the forefront of medieval thought was a struggle to reconcile the relationship between theology (faith) and philosophy (reason). People were at odds as to how to unite the knowledge they obtained through revelation with the information they observed naturally using their mind and their senses.”(The Biography Channel website, 2104, p. 2). Thomas Aquinas sought to answer this seemingly perplexing dilemma for his entire adult lifetime. He set forth that faith and reason were indeed compatible. According to Aquinas, morality arises when our reason becomes aware of the “natural inclinations” that God built into human nature. In particular, Aquinas holds, our reason tells us that we have a moral obligation to pursue those goods toward which we are naturally inclined and to refrain from destroying them: A thing is good if it is an end that we have a natural inclination to desire; it is evil if it is destructive of what our nature is inclined to desire. Consequently, those kinds of things that our nature is inclined to desire are perceived by our reason as good for our human nature. And our reason will conclude that those kinds of things ought to be pursued in our actions. But if our reason sees a certain type of thing as destructive of what human nature is inclined to desire, it will conclude that that type of thing ought to be avoided. (Velasquez, 2013, p. 478) Thomas Aquinas thusly describes man’s power to reason, to think and have dominion over what he might develop with his reason. Human beings are given these powers of reason to advance what is good and to refrain from what is not good according to the power of his reason. An awareness of faith requires reason to attain it, to develop it, to apply it and to assure it is legitimate. This shall be the basis for my thesis statement which is as follows. It is evident that faith and reason are compatible. My Personal Views I shall attempt now to convey my personal insight and thoughts on the issue of the compatibility of faith and reason, to be followed by sections which will use other sources to support and then to argue against my views (and those of Aquinas) followed by a conclusion. Firstly, I am not an overtly “religious” person, that is to say I do not belong to any particular denomination or any particular organized faith. I do however believe that there is an all-powerful supreme force or being or “power” that guides, creates and that has ultimate authority over all things. I have come to a certain understanding that this “power” has dominion over order and demands obedience. The nature of life demands an order, a creator, and an ultimate authority. I have come to this understanding through experience and observation. I experience life as a spiritual journey, I believe that the “seeking” of God is the mechanism by which we grow as “spiritual” beings. As we seek God we are afforded peace, serenity and clarity. The question of being then becomes a reality and carries over into all aspects of one’s spiritual journey, one’s life, consequently, reality and God are not only compatible, they are the same. I am also a firm believer in reason and I have found no difficulty or obstacle in practicing reason and faith, in fact I believe they are inseparable. Support for my view Thomas Aquinas believed that reason and faith were compatible and set forth his argument to support that theory in many of his famous writings. In his article, “Faith and Reason” in “The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy”, James Swindal “(Swindal, 2014, table e) writes Thomas held that our faith in eternal salvation shows that we have theological truths that exceed human reason. But he (Thomas) also claimed that one could attain truths about religious claims without faith, though such truths are incomplete. In the Summa Contra Gentiles Aquinas called this “a twofold truth” about religious claims, “one to which the inquiry of reason can reach, the other which surpasses the whole ability of the human reason.” No contradiction can stand between these two truths.” “However, something can be true for faith and false (or inconclusive) in philosophy, though not the other way around. This entails that a non-believer can attain to truth, though not to the higher truths of faith.”(Swindal, table 5). Surely, as a student of Aristotle, Aquinas knew the value of reason as a means of seeking out truth. He also regarded faith as a truth in itself, a truth realized through revelation. Aquinas wrote, “faith is necessary [in order to assent to] divine things….  Therefore in this subject it is not permitted to investigate the truth [of divinely revealed realities] by reasoning” (De trinitate, 2.1 obj. 3).  He also quotes St. Gregory’s objection:  “‘Faith has no merit where human reason supplies proof.’ But it is wrong to do away with the merit of faith.  Therefore it is not right to investigate matters of faith by reason” (Ibid. obj. 5). “In short, human investigation into sacred doctrine threatens to render faith superfluous.  For if one were to offer a good argument for the truth of what God reveals, then there would be no need for us to exercise faith in regard to that truth”. (Floyd, 2014, table 3c). This outlook makes it clear that Thomas believed faith is reasonable and divine, but that faith transcends reason. He believes that faith, if only acquired through reason, logic, deduction and empirical data would not be “faith” at all. Here, faith seems something beyond reason, however those experiences that lead one to faith are made within a framework of reason. From my standpoint, all “revelation” has to be, to some extent, the product of reason, logic, and deduction and I daresay that this outlook is shared by many people. I do not “know” the sun is the source of warmth I feel on my skin on a summer day, however, experience has convinced me that the sun and that feel of warmth are linked, I can depend on it, and surely that is faith. I also have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow, due to my life experience. It is reasonable to have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow and that it will provide warmth. That same sort of approach has led me to believe that God, or a divine spirit, is concerned with me and with all people. I have seen “evidence” of this. I also have been, at times in my life, unsure of the existence of God. I was at times searching for God and couldn’t seem to find God, at other times I gave up completely but God revealed himself to me in spite of my apparent lack of faith in a manner which defies traditional reason. I believe this is the type of spiritual experience the that Aquinas refers to as “divine”. St. Thomas Aquinas was a man of reason and faith. Opposing Argument According to Joseph Rowlands, “reason and faith are completely incompatible. Faith is the destroyer of reason. It takes particular ideas and divorces them from reality and from reason. If you accept something on faith, you are essentially saying that you will take it off of the table with regards to reason, and treat it how you feel like treating it. Wherever faith goes, reason is pushed out.”(Rowlands, 2006, chap. 15) This argument is defective, the author is making an assumption that faith is separated from reality. That is his opinion. Rowlands goes even further. “If, on the other hand you don't ignore the contradiction, but accept it as valid, you'll use your reasoning method on incorrect facts. Simple case is Creationism. If you accept that the universe was created a few thousand years ago, as the bible says, then you have to start interpreting actual facts in this light. When you see the dinosaur bones, you'll have to imagine that god put them in the earth to trick everyone (he is mysterious, isn't he?).” (Rowlands, chap. 15) Again, this argument implies that the “contradiction” between a bible story and scientific fact prove that faith is incompatible with reason. This argument appeals to our scientific knowledge as being in conflict with faith and is used widely to fortify the argument that faith and reason are incompatible however the Bible is a book written by men and often uses analogies and parables to make a point. For these reasons, I do not see this argument as very strong, it is however one of the most widely used arguments to denounce the compatibility of faith and reason. Atheists Richard Dawkins, an atheist states, “I suspect the reason is that most people ... have a residue of feeling that Darwinian evolution isn't quite big enough to explain everything about life. All I can say as a biologist is that the feeling disappears progressively the more you read about and study what is known about life and evolution. I want to add one thing more. The more you understand the significance of evolution, the more you are pushed away from the agnostic position and towards atheism. Complex, statistically improbable things are by their nature more difficult to explain than simple, statistically probable things” Richard Dawkins, from The New Humanist, the Journal of the Rationalist Press Association, Vol. 107 No 2.(Dawkins, 2008, p. 1). This, is certainly an example of the argument many atheists profess as being proof of the incompatibility of faith and reason. Prof. Dawkins continues… “The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference. Richard Dawkins, "God's Utility Function," published in Scientific American (November, 1995), p. 85. (Dawkins, p. 1) I believe Mr. Dawkins makes a very strong argument, he is what I call a science worshiper. I realize that scientifically, much of what he says is true and that there is a great deal of evil in the world, however that does not in my view prove that God does not exist nor that it is “unreasonable” to have faith in God. Conclusion As we know, Aquinas used reason to develop his “five ways”, using reason to deduce that God indeed exists. The ways include the “Motion argument” that says there had to be a “first mover”, namely God. The Efficient Cause’s Argument”, which reasons that nothing “exists prior to itself so God must have existed first. The “Argument from Possibility and Necessity” which basically reasons that all beings being contingent on other beings leaves us without an explanation of the origin of these beings so the origin has to be God. The “Gradation of Being” argument which says basically good and less good exist on a scale or continuum, with God being the “most or ultimate good”. Finally the “Design Argument” which declares that the complexity and perfection of nature had to have an intelligent designer, once again, God. (Gracyk, 2004, p. 1) These reasons have be questioned and have been criticized, obviously, however they are not easily disproved either. Again, faith transcends reason, but does not discard it, reason is an element involved in the attainment of faith. Let me add some arguments for consideration. Would it not seem reasonable to assert that human animals possess some very different characteristics than any other animal? We have an ability to doubt, to worry, to love, to ponder, to wonder! We possess a self-awareness that seems unlikely in any other being. All of these require and involve a higher level of functioning than that which is present in any other being. Consider the existence of charity, arising from empathy. Consider fellowship, comradeship, the need for community, the need to be fulfilled and stimulated intellectually! I realize some would argue that these are merely the extensions of survival instincts and that we have just evolved to a higher degree but to me that argument falls short. It does not explain the inherent spiritual and emotional nature of man. These elements of our natures, to me seem divine! Also, the argument which states that the evil and violence present in the world disproves a loving God is lacking in the extreme. Here, let me propose that evil is the natural and obvious opposite of God! For example, there is a light and dark, an up and a down, cold and hot, a yang and a yang, good and evil. The existence of evil is an argument for the existence of God, for without it there would be a peculiar imbalance that is not present anywhere else in nature. Do not many religions promote this fact! As we explore the compatibly of Faith and Reason we must look within ourselves, at the totality of our experiences and we must be open to the possibility that we have not been put here to discover that God is or is not, but rather, that we would be better served to strive to discover who we are.  References Dawkins, R. (2008). Positive Atheism’s Big List of Richard Dawkins’ Quotations. Retrieved from http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/dawkins.htm: http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/dawkins.htm Floyd, S. (2014). Aquinas, Philosophical Theology. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/aq-ph-th/#SH3c Gracyk, T. (2004). St. Thomas Aquinas: The existence of God can be proved in five ways.. Retrieved 3/31/14, from http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/aquinasfiveways_argumentanalysis.htm Rowlands, J. (2006). Reason vs. Faith. Retrieved Feb. 20, 2014, from http://objectivism101.com/ Swindal, J. (2014). Faith and Reason. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/faith-re/#SH4e The Biography Channel website (2104). St. Thomas Aquinas. Retrieved Feb. 10, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/st-thomas-aquinas-9187231?page=2#theology-and-philosophy Velasquez, M. (2013). Philosophy, A Text with Readings (12th Ed.). CA. Cengage. Thesis Milestone 2- 11