An Argument for a Perfect ‘First Good’

/ Mark Shaw

This argument is inspired by Aquinas’s talk of the ‘First Good’, and in some ways builds on my first cause argument from 2021:

  1. To cause, or to be able to cause, goodness is good.
  2. So, goodness cannot come into existence from nongoodness. [from 1]
  3. There is something, g, that is good and has come into existence.
  4. So, there has always been something that is good. [from 2 and 3]
  5. There are only a finite number of prior states of reality. / The causal sequence of g cannot be infinte.
  6. Therefore, there is a first good, G. [from 4 and 5]
  7. G is uncaused.
  8. If a greater good were metaphysically possible, then there is a cause for why G exists instead of it.
  9. Therefore, there is no metaphysically possible that is greater than G. [from 7 and 8]
  10. There is no other good as good as G.
  11. Therefore, G is the greatest good that is metaphysically possible. [from 9 and 10]
  12. The greatest good that is metaphysically possible is perfect.
  13. Therefore, G is perfect. [from 11 and 12]