The Summa Theologica, written by St. Thomas Aquinas, contains five "Ways" or arguments that are intended to prove the existence of God. The Fifth Way, which states that things in nature seem to work purposefully even if they are said to “lack knowledge,” is one such argument.
The Fifth Way has an interesting conclusion, because animals and plants have nowhere near the same level of knowledge as humans but appear to work toward a specific purpose anyway.
Bees and ants store up food for the winter, for example. They seem to innately know where to search for food, how to store it, how to build hills or honeycombs, and how to communicate with other colony members.
In fact, bees have a surprising way to share their discoveries with other hive members. When a bee discovers a flower laden with nectar, she does a waggle dance to tell other bees where to look for that flower.
Similarly, hermit crabs realize exactly when to change their shells. Hermit crabs have soft bodies and must wear shells for protection, but they outgrow their current shells eventually. To solve that problem, Aquinas would presume that God gave hermit crabs an instinct to use any new, more fitting shell they find on the ocean floor.
For one last example, atlas moths have no mouths as adults but live off food they have eaten as larvae. The larvae ravenously mow down any food source to prepare for their adulthood. It seems as though the little moths are innately aware that they will no longer be able to consume food when they become adults.
Yes, their voracious eating is certainly an instinct, but where did the instinct to eat everything come from? Aquinas would argue that this was a God-given measure to help the atlas moths thrive even if they cannot eat.
Aquinas argues that these instinctual behaviors are representative of God directing or helping these animals to survive and live healthful lives.
Aquinas claims that God's direction also appears through the orderly way in which life can reproduce. “Dogs always beget dogs, and never cats or peach trees,” says Catholic writer Michele Boyer; everything reproduces according to its own kind and in no other way.
There is also a dazzling quantity of mathematical precision in nature. Seashells are a real-world example of the Fibonacci sequence. Snail and turtle shells have amazing geometric shapes, like spirals, while fish have systematic rows of scales. Nature is orderly and mathematical as it works in response to God’s purpose. Aquinas claims that nature is orderly and mathematical as it works in response to God’s purpose.
In Aquinas’ view, the Fifth Way proves the existence of God because “natural bodies” that do not plan or examine a thing beforehand still “often or always act in the same way to pursue what is best” and “reach their goal not by chance but from directedness.”
Those premises are certainly impressive, considering that “natural bodies” in the world are said to “lack knowledge.” Aquinas argues that living beings' sense of direction comes from a supernatural Creator who knows what is best for every creature, and therefore guides each to “reach their goal.”
Aquinas compares nature with his example of an archer shooting an arrow out of a bow. God is a veritable Archer, and the arrow represents his creation. The arrow could not fly out of the bow by chance. If no one pulled on the bow, the arrow would have no guiding force and would not reach a target. Since God is pulling the bow and guiding the arrow to his target, the arrow moves toward the target and can "reach [its] goal."
This mirrors how animals’ instincts guide them to do what God expects. If an animal is hungry, it has a God-given instinct to catch food by hunting, pecking, diving, or in whatever way it can. It is pulled by God to do something that is healthy for itself. The Fifth Way has correct premises, and that can be proven by observing nature.
What does it mean?
The philosophy can then promote intentional living. In today's day and age, diving deep into nature results in healthier people, who are armed with the belief that there is something that has meaning and consequences beyond themselves. Such observation of nature may culminate in people not taking life for granted, as nature is orderly.
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