Thomas Aquinas and the Big Questions: An Introduction to Metaphysics
Have you ever wondered why anything exists? Or what it means to say something is real? These are the kinds of big questions Thomas Aquinas explored in his study of metaphysics, which is a fancy word for the branch of philosophy that asks, “What is the ultimate nature of reality?” Let’s dive into Aquinas’s ideas using simple language and everyday examples to make his insights easy to understand.
What is Metaphysics?
Metaphysics is like asking the “biggest” questions about life and the universe. While science studies how things work, metaphysics asks why things exist at all. For example:
- Science can explain how your heart pumps blood, but metaphysics asks, “What makes life itself possible?”
- Science might explore the origins of the universe, but metaphysics asks, “Why is there a universe instead of nothing?”
Aquinas believed that these ultimate questions lead us to God because He is the ultimate answer to why anything exists.
Aquinas’s Key Ideas in Metaphysics
Aquinas built on the work of earlier philosophers, especially Aristotle, to develop his own approach to metaphysics. Here are three of his key ideas:
- Being and Existence Aquinas said that everything in the world can be divided into two parts: “what” something is and “that” it exists. For example:
- A chair’s “what” is its form: a structure for sitting.
- Its “that” is the fact that it actually exists in front of you.
- Aquinas argued that only God is pure existence—everything else depends on God for its existence.
- Essence and Existence Imagine you’re drawing a unicorn. You can picture what a unicorn is (its essence), but that doesn’t mean it exists in the real world. Aquinas said that in created things, essence and existence are separate. But in God, essence and existence are the same. God’s very nature is to exist.
- The Cause of All Things Aquinas’s metaphysics also connects to his arguments for God’s existence. He taught that everything in the world has a cause, but the chain of causes can’t go back forever. There must be a first cause that is uncaused—and that’s God.
An Analogy: The Artist and the Painting
Think of God as an artist and the universe as a painting. A painting depends on the artist for its existence. It wouldn’t even begin to exist without the artist’s creativity and action. Similarly, everything in the universe depends on God to exist.
How Does This Connect to the Catholic Faith?
The Catholic Church teaches that faith and reason work together to help us understand God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
"By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of His works” (CCC 50).
Aquinas’s metaphysics supports this idea. By reflecting on existence itself, we can come to recognize the necessity of a Creator who gives all things their being.
Everyday Example: A Lit Candle
Imagine a lit candle. The flame exists because it has wax and a wick. But it also needs oxygen to keep burning. If you trace back everything the candle needs, you eventually get to a point where something must have started it all. For Aquinas, that ultimate source of being is God.
Why Does This Matter?
Understanding metaphysics helps us see the world in a deeper way. Instead of just noticing what exists, we start to ask why it exists. For Aquinas, these questions lead us to God, who is not just another thing in the universe but the foundation of all existence.
Conclusion
Metaphysics is about asking the ultimate “why” questions. Thomas Aquinas showed us that by using our reason and reflecting on existence, we can discover profound truths about God and the universe. For Catholics, this understanding is a way to grow closer to God, who is the source and purpose of all that is.
So the next time you wonder why the world exists, remember Aquinas’s wisdom: those big questions can lead you to the biggest answers.
References
- Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica. Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province. Benziger Bros., 1947. Available online at: New Advent.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church. Online at Vatican.va.
- Feser, Edward. Scholastic Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction. Editiones Scholasticae, 2014.
- Kreeft, Peter. A Shorter Summa: The Essential Philosophical Passages of St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica. Ignatius Press, 2001.