One insight that flashed across my mind today is that Aquinas was clever to postulate the 'Five ways' together and not as individual proofs, or elaborate them in different places (I hope he did not!). Why? None of the proofs, in themselves, are water-tight perfect evidences. Individually they merely uphold one aspect of the divine. But to move from mere existence to something more about the divine one ought to view the proofs collectively.
And how did I arrive at this insight? Reading the critique of Hume. But I may be wrong about Aquinas, in as much as he may not have seen the unity between them and may have as well proposed those 'five ways' each independent of the other.
Whatever be the case, teaching philosophy of religion in a totally different context, a context where the prevalent thought is anti-religious or at best agnostic and viewing arguments for the existence of God from various angles is quite adventurous.
And how did I arrive at this insight? Reading the critique of Hume. But I may be wrong about Aquinas, in as much as he may not have seen the unity between them and may have as well proposed those 'five ways' each independent of the other.
Whatever be the case, teaching philosophy of religion in a totally different context, a context where the prevalent thought is anti-religious or at best agnostic and viewing arguments for the existence of God from various angles is quite adventurous.
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