Metaphysical Themes: God, Being, and the Philosophers

Introduction to Metaphysical Themes

Heinz Heimsoeth reduced the key and recurring themes of metaphysics in the West to six, which coincide with the fundamental problems of philosophy in general:

1. God and the World
2. Infinity and the Finite
3. Soul and the External World
4. Being and the Individual
5. Life
6. Intellect and Will

Christian Wolff, conversely, considers the parts of philosophy and its thematic areas to be four: Ontology (Being), General Cosmology (World), Rational Psychology (Soul), and Natural Theology (God).

Although the issues raised by Wolff and Heimsoeth appear different, they are co-implicated. One can hardly treat the philosophical question of God without addressing associated concepts such as those of infinity and finitude, and vice versa.

The Question of God: Natural Theology and Theodicy

The question of God falls within the domain of Natural Theology or Theodicy. Natural Theology is the part of metaphysics that studies the concept of God and all related matters solely through reason, without relying on knowledge of revelation or faith.

God must be eternal; otherwise, God would have been created by someone or something, leading to an infinite regress in the process of causation.

Aristotle and the Unmoved Mover

In Aristotle's philosophy, God is also conceived as the Prime Mover. Since reality is characterized by constant change and movement, and since all other things change or move, there must be a first cause that moves without being moved—this is the First Mover or Unmoved Mover.

Aristotle resolves the difficulty of representing something that causes movement without being contaminated by movement itself using a beautiful analogy: the First Mover moves the entire universe as the beloved moves the lover. The desired object moves those who desire it, because the beloved or desired object does not wish for anything, yet moves all who wish for it.

Leibniz and the Best of All Possible Worlds

Leibniz attempts to justify God regarding the evils we consider radical. He concludes that these are only apparent evils, asserting that ultimately, in the light of divine intelligence, we live in the best of all possible worlds. This presents the idea of a God who knows everything and can do everything.

Kant and the Postulate of Practical Reason

For Kant, God is a postulate of practical reason. That is, God is a kind of hypothesis or supposition without which the concepts of duty, goodness, justice, and the moral world—of which God is the guarantor—would make no sense.