aquinas' third way arg

how can the arg. also be referred to

arg, from contingency

what kind of arg is it

deductive - if the premises are true then the conclusion must also be true

what is the main aim of the arg

to argue that God exists as a necessary being

give the arg in standard form

• contingent beings exist in the universe

• if everything were cintingent then there would be a time when nothing existed

• if this were so, there would be nothing now as nothing can come from nothing

• since contingent beings do exist, there must something that exists necessarily

• there must be something exists necessarily (God)

what is meant by a contingent being

a being that may or may not exist

what is meant by a necessary being

a being whose non existence is logically impossible

what are some responses to the Third way

• the arg. commits the fallacy of composition - it is a mistake to suppose that that the whole series has causes simply because each event has a cause - we need to have an explanation for each event

• hume argue that a necessary being is impossible as a beings non-existence is never inconceivable. thus there is always a possible world in which the being doenst exist