Catechism 101: The Argument from Gradation

In this episode, we continue our series on St Thomas Aquinas' Five Ways by exploring his Fourth Way: the Argument from Gradation, or Degree.

This is perhaps the most challenging of Aquinas' Five Ways. Beginning with the observation that things possess qualities like truth and goodness to varying degrees, Aquinas asks what makes these comparisons possible. Ultimately, he argues that these degrees of perfection point towards a reality that possesses maximal truth, goodness, and being.

In this episode, we discuss:

What Aquinas means by "degrees" of truth and goodness
Why goodness isn't limited to moral goodness
How truth and goodness are inseperable from existence
Why comparing degrees of perfection points towards a maximum
The difference between possessing a perfection partially and possessing it fundamentally
Why Aquinas thinks limited or "borrowed" being requires an ultimate source
Why the source of all being must be the source of everything else that exists

This episode is part of our series exploring St Thomas Aquinas' Five Ways and the classical philosophical arguments for the existence of God.

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