Place of the First Cause in Francisco Suarez’s Metaphysics

In the history of philosophy and philosophers’ thoughts, God has been discussed differently as the unmoved mover, thought of thought, cause of causes, and the first cause. One of the philosophers who greatly influenced the reformist movements of the church in the 16 and 17 centuries was Fancisco Suarez. His book of Metaphysical Disputations, which comprises 54 disputations on some topics such as general ontology and causes and particular ontology and types of cause, holds a supreme place in the history of philosophy. The present study aims to provide an answer to the questions of what place Suarez has allocated to the discussion of God, and which approach he follows in discussing Him. Another question here is whether one can conceptually reduce all the various names that he has chosen for God based on his own philosophy to a single concept. The findings of the study reveal that Suarez considered three places for God: God as the Efficient Cause, God as the Final Cause (in the first volume of Metaphysical Disputations), and God as Being (in the second volume of the same book). Given Suarez’s definition and explanation for each of these titles, all of them can be explained in terms of an ontological concept and meaning. He follows a philosophical approach to all three stations; however, he also adopts a theological approach to discussing God in the third one and connects the discussion of God to the text of the Holy Book.