Medieval Philosophy: Reason, Faith, and Existence of God
1. The Relationship Between Reason (Philosophy) and Faith (Religion)
This dominant theme is divided into:
- The relationship between spiritual and temporal power
- The subject of “double truth” or Latin Averroism: How to reconcile reason and faith when they offer different answers to the same question.
Averroes argued against the theory of double truth, positing two levels of wisdom: religious and scientific-philosophical. God, as the unique, universal, and eternal first cause, governs the cosmos through natural law. While these two levels of knowledge—teleological and scientific-philosophical—appear different, this difference is merely formal, depending on the approach to truth. Truth is singular. The philosopher seeks truth through demonstration, while the believer receives it through tradition or divine revelation. Divine revelation has two parts: one clear and another requiring interpretation. The first is accessible to all, while the second requires learned individuals. Averroes believed that with proper education and the right use of reason, there is no danger of conflict.
2. Rational Demonstrations for the Existence of God
St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument
Scholasticism explored whether God’s existence could be demonstrated. St. Anselm sought a middle ground between blind faith and pure reason, starting with faith but seeking understanding. His ontological argument posits that God’s existence is inherent in the very idea of God. The greatest conceivable being must exist in reality, not just in thought. This argument aims to show that those who deny God’s existence while acknowledging the concept are contradicting themselves.
Thomas Aquinas’ Five Ways
Aquinas’ five ways are arguments based on empirical observations. Each follows a similar structure:
- Start with a datum from the empirical world.
- Apply the principle of causality.
- Reject infinite regress.
1. The Unmoved Mover: Movement exists in the created world. Everything that is moved is moved by something else. An infinite regress of movers is impossible; there must be a first unmoved mover, which is God.
2. The First Cause: All beings are the effect of a cause. Nothing can be its own cause. An infinite regress of causes is impossible; there must be a first cause, which is God.
3. The Necessary Being: All things in the world are contingent and perishable. Their existence depends on another being. There must be a necessary being, whose existence is not contingent on anything else, which is God.
4. The Perfect Being: Beings in the world exhibit varying degrees of perfection. There must be a most perfect being, a standard against which all others are measured, which is God.
5. The Intelligent Designer: Beings without reason act for a purpose. This teleology in nature reveals tendencies toward certain ends, ordered by an intelligent being, which is God.
3. The Heavenly World and the Earthly World
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4. The Question of Universals
The question of universals was a central theme in medieval philosophy, stemming from Plato and Aristotle’s debate about the nature of ideas. Plato believed ideas had an independent existence and were the cause of things, while Aristotle argued that ideas existed within things as their form. The question of universals asks what kind of reality lies behind universal expressions.