O argumento cosmológico de Tomás de Aquino: uma defesa contemporânea da racionalidade da crença teísta

Abstract

The problem of God’s existence is one of the most fundamental questions in philosophy. Doubt regarding divine reality can create unease for both the theist and the atheist, prompting the search for rational answers. In the context of the Western philosophical tradition, Thomas Aquinas developed one of the most influential arguments in defense of God’s existence: the cosmological argument. Grounded in AristotelianThomistic metaphysics, this argument seeks to demonstrate, from observation of the sensible world, the logical necessity of a Necessary Being as the ultimate cause of all that exists. This research aims to critically analyze Aquinas’s cosmological argument, its metaphysical foundations, and its relevance to the philosophy of religion. It examines the metaphysics of act and potency that underpins its structure and explores the first three ways presented in the Summa Theologiae and the Summa contra Gentiles, which address motion, efficient causality, and contingency and necessity. Furthermore, it investigates the main divine attributes inferred from this demonstration—such as simplicity, eternity, omnipotence, omniscience, goodness, immutability, and creative causality—showing their compatibility with the Christian theistic tradition. The study also considers major criticisms of the cosmological argument, especially those raised by Immanuel Kant, Bertrand Russell, and Anthony Kenny, who question the validity of inferring a necessary being from empirical experience. These objections are confronted with contemporary defenses, including those by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Cornelio Fabro, and William Lane Craig, who reaffirm the argument’s philosophical coherence and its compatibility with recent scientific findings. Methodologically, the study follows a bibliographical and analytical approach, drawing from the works of Aquinas and contemporary authors. Even after centuries of debate, the cosmological argument remains influential in defending the existence of God. It concludes that the Thomistic argumentative structure remains valid and provides a solid rational foundation for theistic belief, demonstrating that faith and reason are not mutually exclusive but complementary in the search for ultimate truth. Its continued relevance today is justified by the solidity of its metaphysical foundation and its capacity to engage with contemporary philosophical and scientific questions, offering a rational response to the problem of the origin and contingency of the universe, in harmony with the theistic tradition and open to interphilosophical dialogue.