Augustine's Proof Of The Existence Of God

In his proof of the existence of God, Augustine begins by first examining the distinction between bodily senses, the inner sense and reason. These three considerations form the foundation of his argument. Reason is the vital factor that divides humans from animals. From this premise Augustine moves on to claim that there is a hierarchy among beings; existence, life and understanding. Existence, a rock for example, is inferior to an animal due to the fact that a rock merely exists but an animal exists and has life. By this logic, animals are inferior to humans who have all three attributes. After establishing these premises, Augustine claims that anything superior to human reason must therefore be God and only if that there is nothing greater than that. Augustine believes that the truth of numbers is superior to human reason and states that only human minds can grasp the concept of numbers. The most intriguing aspect of numbers is the concept of infinity. Augustine proves that it is superior to reason by noting that after one comes two and then three and four. These are unchanging numerical truths that will always hold. He then concludes that he has found something greater than the human mind and wisdom.

As noted in the summary, bodily senses are below the inner sense which is in turn inferior to reason. Beings who have reason are likely to have inner sense and bodily senses, in other words the top of the hierarchy encompasses the traits of those below. This is further demonstrated with the hierarchy of beings. A rock has the attribute of existence but is inferior to animals that possess life as well as existence. Lastly, human beings are superior to both and encompass their traits of existence and life as well as the uniqueness of reason. The ascension of these qualities logically implies that whatever is superior must inherit the qualities below it,