f an inanimate thing is determined by God to act toward God's end, then there is no freedom of choice, and the thing is not acting according to its own end, it is acting toward God's end. — Metaphysician Undercover
To call the some other way" "god" is purely gratuitous — Frank Apisa
To call the some other way" "god" is purely gratuitous — Frank Apisa
I do not agree. Assuming, of course, that Aquinas has successfully argued his point, then there must exist an infinite mind that acts as the final cause of all that exists. In saying "this we call God", he's simply acknowledging what was widely considered to be an attribute of God within his milieu. — Aaron R
Today, saying there are mysteries...and then gratuitously suggesting those mysteries demand a "creator" "prime mover" "reason for ends"...is inappropriate. — Frank Apisa
So, according to you, (most) non-human animals, plants and artifacts can't be said to have ends. — Πετροκότσυφας
We can't say that the leaf's ends are photosynthesis and transpiration, a bird's singing is to attract mates or that a house's end is to shelter, — Πετροκότσυφας
Also, human ends can't be traced back to God. Is that right? — Πετροκότσυφας
I believe that Aquinas would say that final cause interacts with the inanimate thing through the form as essence. In other words, essences within the mind of God act as the final causes of all things. Insofar as a particular thing has a substantial form, this is possible only because there is a corresponding universal essence existing eternally within the mind of God. — Aaron R
If humans use reason to make choices, what do other animals or artifacts use to make theirs? — Πετροκότσυφας
We are only talking about the mode of final causality here. I was not saying that God's knowledge is restricted to knowledge of universal essences, I was simply saying that it is through God's knowledge of universal essences that he acts as the final cause of all things. — Aaron R
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