Is There Any Reference to Supernatural Phenomena in Thomas Aquinas Five Ways?

Aquinas’ “Five Ways” (see below) primarily deal with philosophical and metaphysical arguments rather than explicitly referencing supernatural phenomena. Here’s a clarification on why this might be:

• Philosophical Approach: Aquinas was a Scholastic philosopher, and his arguments are constructed within the framework of Aristotelian philosophy, which deals with natural theology. He seeks to demonstrate God’s existence through reason and observation of the natural world, not through direct appeals to supernatural events or miracles.
• Natural Order: Each of the Five Ways focuses on aspects of the natural order or causality observable in the world around us:
  • Motion is about physical change.
  • Efficient Cause deals with causality in nature.
  • Contingency addresses why things exist rather than not.
  • Gradation observes the degrees of qualities in nature.
  • Design (teleology) looks at how natural things act towards ends.
• Implication Rather Than Explicit Reference: While Aquinas doesn’t directly mention supernatural phenomena like miracles, his arguments implicitly lead to the conclusion of a supernatural being (God) as the cause behind these natural observations. The leap from natural observation to a supernatural cause is made through logical deduction rather than through citing specific supernatural events.
• Context of Proof: Aquinas’ goal was to prove God’s existence through what could be known by human reason alone, without necessarily relying on revelation or supernatural events. His intention was to show that one could arrive at the concept of God using only the tools of philosophy and natural observation.
• Subsequent Interpretation: Later theologians and philosophers have sometimes interpreted or expanded these arguments to include discussions of supernatural phenomena, but Aquinas himself keeps his arguments grounded in what can be observed or logically deduced from nature.

In essence, Aquinas’ arguments are about using natural philosophy to point towards a supernatural conclusion, but they do not explicitly use supernatural events as part of the proof. He was aiming to show that belief in God could be rational even to those who might not accept divine revelation or miracles as evidence.

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Thomas Aquinas, in his work “Summa Theologica,” presents five arguments for the existence of God, commonly known as the “Five Ways.” These arguments are largely metaphysical, but the second and fifth ways touch explicitly on aspects of design or order in the universe. Here are the “Five Ways” with special attention to those relevant to the design argument:

1. The Argument from Motion (or Change)

• Summary: Aquinas argues that everything in motion must be moved by something else. Since there cannot be an infinite regress of movers, there must be a first unmoved mover, which is God.
• Key Point: This argument focuses more on the causality of motion rather than design per se.

2. The Argument from Efficient Cause

• Summary: Nothing can cause itself, and there cannot be an infinite regress of causes. Therefore, there must be a first efficient cause, which everyone understands to be God.
• Design Aspect: While not directly about design, this argument implies an order or pattern in causality that leads back to a single cause, which can be seen as an underlying design or structure to reality.

3. The Argument from Possibility and Necessity (Contingency)

• Summary: We observe things in the world that are contingent (they exist but could not have existed). If everything were contingent, at some point there would have been nothing, and thus nothing would exist now. Therefore, there must be something necessary, whose existence is not contingent on anything else, and this is God.
• Key Point: This is less about design and more about the necessity of existence.

4. The Argument from Gradation (Degrees of Perfection)

• Summary: We see things in the world that vary in degrees of goodness, truth, nobility, etc. There must be a maximum in each genus (category), which is the cause of all in that genus. This maximum is God.
• Key Point: This argument implies a hierarchy or order in qualities which suggests an ultimate source of these perfections.

5. The Argument from Design (Teleological Argument)

• Summary: We see that things which lack intelligence, such as natural bodies, act for an end or purpose. This is evident from how they consistently achieve their ends, like how an arrow hits its target. Things that lack knowledge cannot aim toward an end unless directed by something with knowledge and intelligence. Therefore, there must be some intelligent being by whom all natural things are directed to their end, and this being we call God.
• Design Aspect: This is the most explicit argument from design. Aquinas notes the order and purposefulness in nature, suggesting that such teleology cannot be accounted for by chance or the properties of matter alone but requires an intelligent designer.

Key Points for Design:

• Aquinas’ fifth way is the cornerstone for what later became known as the teleological or design argument. It argues from the observed natural teleology (purpose or design) to the existence of an intelligent designer.
• The second way, while primarily about causality, also implies a kind of design in the sense that the structure of causes points to an ultimate cause, which could be interpreted as a designed system.

In summary, while Aquinas’ arguments are varied, the fifth way is the most direct in arguing from the design or purposeful nature of the universe to the existence of God. However, elements of order, causality, and structure in the other ways also contribute to an indirect argument from design.

Source: https://ncrenegade.com/is-there-any-reference-to-supernatural-phenomena-in-thomas-aquinas-five-ways/