Philosophy class leaves me thinking long past the 2:20 end time, and provides an easy distraction in my review of a calculus class. In our reading (Aristotle's Physics), we are treading in the touchy gray area of the existence of a god figure. Book VIII of Physics contains Aristotle's "proof" of the existence of god. As this material cannot to be classified as light reading, I will provide a summary. Aristotle believes that an event can only be understood if the causes of an event are understood. The basis of this thesis is that there are two ways things happen: the natural and the unnatural. Aristotle also believes that things happen for a reason, and that things must have a purpose to exist. In a roundabout way, Aristotle's view on the existence of a god is this: for the universe to exist, an initial cause must have been there. Aristotle places this upon a god figure. I ask, "Why must the universe have a purpose?" That really is the central question surrounding the existence/non-existence of a god. If the universe is without an overarching, unifying purpose, a need for a creator is removed form the picture. If the universe is content to expand slowly, birth new stars and kill the old, and all its other exercises without lumbering toward some infinitely far-off goal, there is no plan. And if there is no plan, there is no need for some higher power to be there to create/enact that plan. But if indeed the universe is moving toward some cosmological end, something must have created this plan, something with influence over the stars, planets, galaxies, and innumerable life forms. I hate to think that the American Christian God is the figure in question. But that is not the question at hand. Does the universe have a purpose? If so, what is it? "To please the Creator" or any variation of that general sentence structure is not an acceptable answer, as that answer assumes a god figure is already in existence, when that is indeed the deeper answer these questions seek to answer, which would be circular logic (the purpose of the universe is to please God, and that is the reason God created the universe).