Herbert A. Davidson was Professor Emeritus of Hebrew at UCLA, where he chaired the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Department from 1981 to 1987. His other books include Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works and Alfarabi, Avicenna, and Averroes, on Intellect.

I Introduction

1. Eternity, creation, and the existence of God

2. The present book

II Proofs of Eternity from the Nature of the World

1. Proofs of eternity

2. Proofs of eternity from the nature of the physical world

3. Replies to proofs from the nature of the world

4. Summary

III Proofs of Eternity from the Nature of God

1. The Proofs

2. Replies to proofs from the nature of the cause of the universe

3. Summary

IV John Philoponus¿ Proofs of Creation and Their Entry into Medieval Arabic Philosophy

1. Philoponus¿ proofs of creation

2. Saadia and Philoponus

3. Kindi and Philoponus

4. Summary

V Kalam Proofs for Creation

1. Proofs from the impossibility of an infinite number

2. Responses of the medieval Aristotelians to proofs of creation from the impossibility of an infinite number

3. The standard Kalam proof for creation: the proof from accidents

4. Juwayni¿s version of the proof from accidents

5. Proofs from composition

VI Arguments from the Concept of Particularization

1. Inferring the existence of God from creation

2. Arguments from the concept of particularization

3. Particularization arguments for the existence of God without the premise of creation; particularization arguments for creation

4. Ghazali and Maimonides

5. Additional arguments for creation in Maimonides and Gersonides

VII Arguments from Design

1. Cosmological, teleological, and ontological proofs of the existence of God

2. Teleological arguments

3. Summary

VIII The Proof from Motion

1. Aristotle¿s proof from motion

2. Maimonides¿ version of the proof from motion

3. Hasdai Crescas¿ critique of the proof from motion

4. Another proof from motion

IX Avicennäs Proof of the Existence of a Being Necessarily Existent by Virtue of Itself

1. First cause of motion and first cause of existence

2. The existence of God: a problem for metaphysics

3. Necessarily existent being and possibly existent being

4. The attributes of the necessarily existent by virtue of itself

5. Proof of existence of the necessarily existent by virtue of itself

6. Questions raised by Avicennäs proof

7. The version of Avicennäs proof in Shahrastani and Crescas

8. Summary

X Averroes¿ Critique of Avicennäs Proof

1. The proof of the existence of God as a subject for physics

2. Necessarily existent by virtue of another, possibly existent by virtue of itself

3. The nature of the celestial spheres according to Averroes

4. Averroes¿ critique of the body of Avicennäs proof

5. Summary

XI Proofs of the Existence of God from the Impossibility of an Infinite Regress of Efficient Causes

1. The proof from the impossibility of an infinite regress of causes

2. Unity and incorporeality

3. The proof from the impossibility of an infinite regress of efficient causes and the proof from the concepts possibly existent and necessarily existent

4. Resumé

5. Crescas on the impossibility of an infinite regress

6. Ghazali¿s critique of Avicennäs proof

7. Summary

XII Subsequent History of Proofs from the Concept of Necessary Existence

1. Maimonides and Aquinas

2. The influence of Avicennäs proof

3. Proofs of the existence of God as a necessarily existent being in modern European philosophy

4. Summary

5. Concluding remark

Appendix A. Two Philosophic Principles

1. The principle that an infinite number is impossible

2. The principle that a finite body contains only finite power

Appendix B. Inventory of Proofs

Primary Sources

Index of Philosophers

Index of Terms