argument from degrees of perfection
E412954
The argument from degrees of perfection is a Thomistic proof for God’s existence that infers a maximally perfect being from the varying degrees of goodness, truth, and nobility observed in things.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| argument from degrees of perfection canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4092823 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: argument from degrees of perfection Context triple: [five ways to prove the existence of God, hasPart, argument from degrees of perfection]
-
A.
Appeal to Reason
Appeal to Reason is a politically charged punk rock album by American band Rise Against, known for its melodic hardcore sound and socially conscious lyrics.
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B.
Doctrine of Essence
The Doctrine of Essence is the central section of Hegel’s *Science of Logic* that analyzes reflection, appearance, and the underlying structures of reality beyond immediate being.
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C.
Theodicy
Theodicy is a philosophical and theological work by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz that attempts to reconcile the existence of evil with an all-powerful, all-good God by arguing that we live in the best of all possible worlds.
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D.
The Uses of Argument
The Uses of Argument is a foundational work in informal logic and argumentation theory in which Stephen Toulmin introduces his influential model for analyzing practical reasoning.
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E.
Toulmin
Toulmin is the surname of Stephen Toulmin, a prominent British philosopher best known for his work on argumentation and the Toulmin model of reasoning.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: argument from degrees of perfection Target entity description: The argument from degrees of perfection is a Thomistic proof for God’s existence that infers a maximally perfect being from the varying degrees of goodness, truth, and nobility observed in things.
-
A.
Appeal to Reason
Appeal to Reason is a politically charged punk rock album by American band Rise Against, known for its melodic hardcore sound and socially conscious lyrics.
-
B.
Doctrine of Essence
The Doctrine of Essence is the central section of Hegel’s *Science of Logic* that analyzes reflection, appearance, and the underlying structures of reality beyond immediate being.
-
C.
Theodicy
Theodicy is a philosophical and theological work by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz that attempts to reconcile the existence of evil with an all-powerful, all-good God by arguing that we live in the best of all possible worlds.
-
D.
The Uses of Argument
The Uses of Argument is a foundational work in informal logic and argumentation theory in which Stephen Toulmin introduces his influential model for analyzing practical reasoning.
-
E.
Toulmin
Toulmin is the surname of Stephen Toulmin, a prominent British philosopher best known for his work on argumentation and the Toulmin model of reasoning.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Scholastic argument
ⓘ
Thomistic proof ⓘ cosmological argument ⓘ philosophical argument ⓘ theistic argument ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
Fourth Way
ⓘ
Fourth Way of Thomas Aquinas ⓘ |
| basedOn |
degrees of goodness
ⓘ
degrees of nobility ⓘ degrees of perfection in things ⓘ degrees of truth ⓘ gradation of being ⓘ |
| centralConcept |
gradation of being
ⓘ
participation in being ⓘ transcendental properties of being ⓘ |
| concerns |
goodness as a transcendental
ⓘ
nobility as a transcendental ⓘ truth as a transcendental ⓘ |
| concludesThat |
there exists something that is maximum in being
ⓘ
there exists something that is maximum in goodness ⓘ there exists something that is maximum in nobility ⓘ there exists something that is maximum in truth ⓘ |
| criticizedBy |
analytic philosophers of religion
ⓘ
empiricist philosophers ⓘ |
| criticizedFor |
ambiguity in the notion of perfection
ⓘ
questionable inference from degrees to a maximum ⓘ reliance on outdated metaphysics of forms and perfections ⓘ |
| defendedBy |
Catholic analytic philosophers
ⓘ
contemporary Thomists ⓘ |
| developedBy |
St. Thomas Aquinas
ⓘ
surface form:
Thomas Aquinas
|
| formulatedInWork | Summa Theologiae ⓘ |
| identifiesMaximumWith |
God
ⓘ
cause of all perfections in other things ⓘ |
| infersExistenceOf |
God
ⓘ
maximally perfect being ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
Aristotelian doctrine of the maximum and minimum
ⓘ
Aristotelianism ⓘ
surface form:
Aristotelian metaphysics
|
| locatedInSection |
Summa Theologiae
ⓘ
surface form:
Summa Theologiae I q.2 a.3
|
| partOf | Five Ways ⓘ |
| presupposes |
analogy between degrees and a maximum
ⓘ
objective hierarchy of perfections ⓘ realism about universals or properties ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
argument from moral values
ⓘ
argument from the transcendental properties of being ⓘ ontological argument ⓘ |
| usedIn |
Catholic intellectual tradition
ⓘ
surface form:
Catholic philosophy
classical natural theology ⓘ |
| usesPremise |
gradation implies a maximum in that order
ⓘ
the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus ⓘ things exhibit varying degrees of perfection ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: argument from degrees of perfection Description of subject: The argument from degrees of perfection is a Thomistic proof for God’s existence that infers a maximally perfect being from the varying degrees of goodness, truth, and nobility observed in things.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.