E. L. Mascall's Theory of Being. An Attempt at the Analysis of Assumptions and Consequences. Part I: Theory of the Contingency of Being

Abstract

The paper concerns the two basic concepts of E.L. Mascall's metaphysics, the contemporary English Thomist. He drew upon Gilson's interpretation of the doctrine of St Thomas Aquinas. The first part describes the contingency of being which, according to Mascall, is supposed to consist in a total dependency of the existence and nature of the world on the free will of God. This fact makes it impossible to give a final answer to the question: why does the world exist? Since the man is able neither to discover the reasons nor the motives of God's activity.