Philosophy

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             In the First Way, Aquinas established that everything that is finite undergoes change, and by following these successive changes, finite man is eventually led to God. Until this happens, finite objects cannot be changed. Aquinas' Second Way is based upon the theory of causality, which is a detailed explanation of how the first cause is the only explanation for continual "cause and effect" of the universe. Next, Aquinas established the criteria of a 'necessity' of being. In other words, something cannot come from nothing. There had to be a transient being in place for all existence to evolve. He wrote, "We find in nature things that are possible to be and not to be . But it is impossible for these things to always exist, for that which is possible not to be at some time is not. Therefore, if everything is possible not to be, then at one time there could have been nothing in existence" (Porter, 144). In other words, if there were no existence historically, nothing would exist at the present time. Since existence is not in question today, there must have been an eternal existence which started it all -- God (Porter, 144). .
             By the nineteenth century, philosophers were not quite so content to blindly accept the existence of God. A certain skepticism began to prevail, and this was reflected in the philosophy of the time period. Perhaps one of the most articulate spokesmen who argued against the existence of God was British philosopher David Hume, the founder of the 'skeptical school of philosophy.' He openly criticized Aquinas' "first cause" theory as an ineffective argument, asking, "What was the cause of the First Cause?" (Titus and Smith, 344). He and others pointed out, quite rightly, if every occurrence must have a cause, what makes anyone conclude that it began with God? There has never been a valid argument establishing God as the 'First Cause' according to David Hume (Titus and Smith, 344).