1.2 The cosmological Argument Flashcards
What is the cosmological argument?
A collection of arguments concerned with finding an explanation for the universe. Asks why the universe exists
What is natural theory?
the CA is an argument form natural theory
Humans do not know God through reason , but through the work of God in creation
What type of argument is the CA?
A posteriori
What are some reasons to support the CA?
- Its a posteriori so we have experience of the world
- It uses logic and evidence
What are some reasons not to support the CA?
- How do we know whether God is the cause of the universe?
- Just because things on earth are cused, how do we know that the universe is caused?
What is the CA articulated by Aristotle?
He separated the prime mover from the material universe, arguing that it couldnt fit in the ordinary chain of physical, material causes.
God couldnt possibly exist within our universe, he must be outside of it
What is the cosmological argument articulated by al-Kindi and al-Ghazali?
Premise 1) Whatever comes into being must have a cause
Premise 2) the universe came into being
Premise 3) the universe must have a cause
Premise 4) if the universe has a cause it must have been God
Conclusion God exists
What is the CA articulated by William Lane Craig?
Premise 1) if something has a finite past its existence has been caused
Premise 2)The uiverse has a finite past
Premise 3) Space and time originated with the universe and also have a finite past- the cause of the universe must be beyond time and space
Does Craig accept the theory of infinity?
- He thinks that the concept of infinity is illogical
- ‘Infinity is a concept in your mind’
What is the infinite hotel paradox?
David Hilbert imagines a hypothetical hotel with rooms numbered 1, 2, 3, and so on with no upper limit. This is called a countably infinite number of rooms. Initially every room is occupied, and yet new visitors arrive, each expecting their own room. A normal, finite hotel could not accommodate new guests once every room is full. However, it can be shown that the existing guests and newcomers — even an infinite number of them — can each have their own room in the infinite hotel.
Who was Thomas Aquinas?
An italian priest and philosopher
What is Thomas Aquinas’ first way for the CA?
Argument from MOTION
* Nothing can move itself
* An infinite chain of movers that has no beginning cannnot have no successive or ultimate movers
conc: there must be a first mover, we call this God
What is Thomas Aquinas’ second way for the CA?
Argument from CAUSE
* things in the world are caused
* Nothing can be its own cause
* there cannot be an infinite chain of causes
* there must be a first cause
conc: God is the first cause
Are the first and second ways of Aquinas’ CA effective?
No
* The theory of evolution gives and explanation for why things change
* Why does the first cause have to be the GOCT?
What is Thomas Aquinas’ Third way for the CA?
Argument from CONTINGENCY
* Everything is dependent on factors beyond itself (contingent), they could always not exist
* Contingent beings can only be explained by contingent beings
* Contingent beings need an ultimate explanation as a necessary being- God
Contingent=children have been cause by their parents, but might ont have
Is Aquinas’ third way of the CA effective?
YES
* It’s a posteriori, which draws from evidence
* Swinburne uses occam’s razor- God is the simplest explanation
NO
* Does it complement scientific theories?
* The argument doesn’t explain why God doesn’t need an explanation
Occam’s razor= the simplest answer is often the correct one e.g God
Who was Gottfried Liebniz?
A German mathematician who was a well respected enlightenment thinker
Did Liebniz accept the idea of an infinite universe?
No he said there must be a cause for a whole universe which explains the whole universe
The cause for the universe must also explainit
What is the principle of sufficient reason?
- Everything on earth has something that explains its existence
- There has to be a sufficient reason that explains the cause of any event even the universe
What is infinite regress?
A never-ending sequence or chain of causes that goes back forever with no starting point
Did Liebniz accept infinite regression?
He rejected an infinite universe because he didnt believe it was a satisfactory explanation for its existence
He accepted God as the uncaused cause
What is the principal of Sufficient Reason?
- Everything on earth has something that explains its existence
- There has to be suffiecient reason- an adequate reason that explains the cause of any event
Liebniz rejected an infinited universe because he didn’t believe it was a satisfactory explanation for its existence- he accepted God as the uncased cause
What is infinite regress?
A never ending sequence or chain of causes that goes back forever with no starting point
What are some strengths of the cosmological argument?
- Inductive a posteriori argument - observations of our world seem to support Aquinas’ argument
- By not arguing for a christian God Aquinas makes his argument simpler and nore straight foward to prove
- Complements scientific arguments such as the Big Bang theory (uses empirical evidence)
- Uses Occam’s razor
Who was Frederick Copleston and what was his argument?
- He was a priest and philosopher and his argument was from contingency
What is the argument from contingency?
An eternal series of contingent beings could not bring about its own existence or explain how they came into being
It would have been impossible for anything to have begun to exist and thus nothing would be in existence, God is a necesary being
What was John Hick’s argument?
From contingency
Who is Richard Swinburne and what was his argument?
A english philosopher who argued for the existence of God. Occam’s razor
What is the outline of Occam’s razor?
The explanation that requires the fewest assumptions is usually correct (the simplest one)
Applied to the CA: It’s more likely that there would be nothing rather than something. So God is the simplest explanation
What are some weaknesses of the Cosmological Argument?
- Inductive arguments are only probable: doesnt provide certainty of God’sexistence
- The universe could just be infinite (why cant there be infinite regression?)
- We don’t have any direct experience of the creation of the universe
Who is Richard Dawkins and what does he believe?
An atheist
Scientific view: objects offering mythological explanations, we must ‘do better science’
Who was Bertrand Russle and what does he believe?
A british philosopher:
Fallacy of composition: we mistakenly give properties of parts of the whole to the whole
Its a mistake to say objects within the universe were created so the universe was created
What did David Hume believe about the CA?
As we have no direct experience of the creation of universes we cannot speak meaningfully about the creation of the universe
What did Kant believe about the CA?
Argued that the idea that everything must have a first cause only applied to the world of sense and experience. It cannot apply to something we haven’t experienced.
What is the principal of sufficient reason?
Everything on earth has something that explains its existence
There has to be a sufficient reason that explains the cause of any event, even the universe
What is infinite regress?
A never ending sequence or chain of causes that goes back forever with no starting point
What are the strengths of the CA?
- Inductive, a posteriori argument- observations of our world seem to support Aquinas’ argument
- By not arguing for a Christian God aquinas makes his argument simpler and more straight foward
- Complements scientific arguments like the Big Bang (using empirical evidence)
- Occam’s razor
Who was Frederick Copleston and what did he believe?
A priest and philosopher
Argument from contingency: **An eternal series of contingent beings **could not bring about its own existence or explain how they came into being
Who was John Hick and what did he believe?
American philosopher
Argument from contingency: It would have been** impossible for anything to have begun to exist** and thus nothing would be in existence, God is a necessary being
Who is Richard Swinburne and what does be believe?
English philosopher
Occam’s Razor: it is more likely that there would be nothing rather than something, so the universe needs an explanation. God is the simplest explanation
What are weaknesses of the CA?
- inductive arguments are only ever probable- don’t provide certainty of God’s existence
- The universe could just be infinite (why can’t there be infinite regression?)- Russle
- We don’t have any direct experience of the creation of the Universe- Hume
Who is Richard Dawkins and what does he believe?
Athiest
Scientific view: He objects to offering mythological explanations, we must ‘do better science’
Who was Bertrand Russle and what did he believe?
British philosopher
Fallacy of composition: We mistakenly give properties of parts of the whole to the whole
Its a mistake to say ‘objects within the universe were created. Therefore the universe was created’
What did Davide Hume believe?
As we have no direct experience of the creation of universes we cannot speak meaningfully about the creation of the universe
He criticises the POSR as those who seek complete universes seek something that doesn’t exist
Asks why we have to conclude that the universe had a beginning, and if it did it doesn’t mean that anything caused it
What did Immanuel Kant believe?
Argued that the idea that everything must have a first cause, only applied to the world of sense and experience. It cannot apply to the creation as we did not experience it.
