St. Thomas Aquinas

8 Pages 1885 Words

does

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so to reach water found deeper in the ground. Now this action is considered by many to be highly intelligent. However, how did this inanimate object lacking any intelligence develop such behavior? Behavior that leads to an end goal, to retrieve water deep in the soil? It would seem that the tree was “designed” to extend its roots deeper to find adequate water supply. But where did the tree get its design? Aquinas would argue that all things have a certain design. And where there is a design, there is a designer. For clarity I will further breakdown this argument to its finer principles.
1. Natural objects that lack intelligence (trees) seem to grow, act, and develop
towards an intelligent end or goal.
2. But if these objects lack intelligence, then they are not able to give themselves

their own goals or ends.

3. These objects must get their intelligent goals or ends from an intelligent

designer.

Therefore,

4. God exists.

Another simple example to further illustrate this argument is the exotic animal, the giraffe. Giraffes have elongated necks to help them reach the tops of trees to eat the leaves. Needless to say, the giraffe is an herbivore, meaning simply it is a vegetarian. The giraffe, lacking intelligence, was unable to give itself its design. Fur...