Stanisław Ziemiański’s Natural Theology. Some Selected Topics

Abstract

In the article, I present or reconstruct and critically comment on the arguments for the existence of God given by Stanisław Ziemiański, S.J. Among these arguments, I distinguish between general-metaphysical, metaphysicalnatural and metaphysical-anthropological arguments. The main premise of the general-metaphysical arguments is the thesis of the non-necessity of linking existence with the various contents/essences of entities (existential/ radical contingency) and substantial or accidental forms with their subjects (essential/partial contingency). The guarantor of the occurrence of this connection is to be God as the entity, in which the relationship between the aforementioned factors assumes a necessary character. The metaphysical-natural arguments are not so abstract, but refer to certain data of cosmology (the Big Bang, negentropy) and biology (the origin of living organisms as self-replicating functional wholes). The appeal to God’s action is to explain these (in themselves) unique or unlikely events or phenomena. Other data are highlighted by metaphysical-anthropological arguments. Namely, these are the following common phenomena among humans: the desire for happiness, the sense of moral law, and the worship of the supreme being. According to the Author in question, the explanation of these phenomena only by reference to psychological and social factors is ineffective. On the other hand, they become understandable when we treat them as varieties of human references to the real existing God. In discussing the above arguments, I draw attention to the opportunities and limitations of theistic argumentation in contemporary philosophical discussions. The value of metaphysical-natural arguments depends on the changing state of scientific knowledge, and metaphysical-anthropological arguments depend on changing human attitudes. General metaphysical arguments are free from the above dependencies, but they seem too abstract for the contemporary reader.