Ontology
The study of being—what exists, categories of existence, and the fundamental structure of reality pointing toward necessary Being.
Necessary Being
The chain of contingent beings requires a necessary foundation. Contingent beings cannot explain themselves; they point beyond themselves.
A necessary being exists by its own nature—it cannot not exist. This is what classical theism means by God: not a being among beings, but Being itself, the ground of all existence.
- Cosmological Argument: Contingent beings require a necessary being as their ultimate explanation. Aquinas, Leibniz, and contemporary philosophers develop this argument.
- Self-Existence: A necessary being exists by its own nature—it cannot not exist. God is 'I AM WHO I AM'—existence itself.
- Divine Attributes: A necessary being must be eternal, uncaused, and the source of all else. From necessity flow the classical divine attributes.
- Actus Purus: Aquinas: God is pure actuality, with no unrealized potential. God is fully what God is—complete, perfect, unchanging.
Categories of Being
Ontology explores different categories of existence. What kinds of things are there? How do they relate?
Abstract objects—numbers, propositions, universals—pose a puzzle. They seem to exist, but where? Divine conceptualism grounds them in God's mind, solving the puzzle elegantly.
- Substance and Attribute: Things have essential natures and accidental properties. Aristotelian metaphysics provides the framework for understanding being.
- Abstract Objects: Numbers, propositions, universals—do they exist? How? Platonism, nominalism, and conceptualism offer different answers.
- Divine Ideas: Abstract objects may be grounded in God's mind—the Augustinian solution. Mathematical truths are thoughts in the mind of God.
- Participation: Finite beings participate in Being itself. We exist by sharing in God's existence—the doctrine of participation.