s idea of a moral hierarchy with his own rational observations of truth and goodness being embodied in their highest form by God. While Plato wavers on God's superiority, Aristotle views man as god's pawn, and Anselm uses tortuous dogmatic logic, Augustine's arguments seem to make the most sense from not only a Christian point of view but from a moral and rational one as well. The philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, and St. Anselm on the existence of God all vary on the issue of God's nature; though each thinker takes a different approach to why there is a God, that of St. Augustine seems the most valid because he takes a rational stance and does not dogmatically assume God's existence. Plato's philosophy assumes that God exists as a supremely good being whose goodness is analogous to Plato's concrete concept or the ultimate good. However, God and goodness are not one and the same; Plato does not directly state that goodness is good, but that God is good, since he exemplifies the idea at the top of Plato's hierarchy. In short, God does not equal goodness, but God encompasses it better than any other being. This implies not that God is perfect, but that God's intentions and actions have good aims - goodness may emerge from other sources besides God. The main problem with Plato's philosophy is his inconsistency; he owes the existence of his Ideas to both God and goodness, but he claims the two are not identical. God becomes subordinate to the "universals" in Plato's ordered cosmos, and his defense of God appears rather weak. While Plato assumes God exists as the ultimately good (but not omnipotent) being, Aristotle questions God's active role in the universe and claims that nature depends upon an immaterial Supreme Being. For example, he cites natural genesis and the perpetuity of movement as evidence of God's immaterial existence, and he implies that God is a self-sufficient, compelling force for both nature and man. Aristot...
