1A Cosmological Argument Flashcards
Who put foreword the cosmological argument
St Thomas Aquinas
what book did aquinas write
summa theologica
who was aquinas’ book aimed at
theology students and believers
what are inductive arguments
an assertion that uses specific premises or observations to make a broader generalisation
what is an example of an inductive argument? why is it inductive?
‘I sneezed, therefore I have a cold’
it is reasonable to assume my sneeze is because of a cold; although there are many other possibilities that could have caused a sneeze.
what does a posteriori mean
arrive to conclusions after evaluating empirical data
what empirical data does the cosmological argument rely on
information from the cosmos and the pheonomena within it to come to its conclusions
what did aquinas believe it was necessary to find out
how Aristotelian and Christian thought could be comparable; as well faith and reason could work together, so that people didn’t have to depend on doctrine faith seeking understanding
out of revelation and reason what did aquinas believe was of higher merit and why
revelation was stronger because humans can make mistakes
what was aquinas’ first way called
the unmoved mover
how does aquinas define motion
‘The reduction of something from potentiality to actuality’.
what does aquinas beleive about things being in motion? give a quote
everything is in a state of motion
‘whatever is in motion is put in motion by another’
summarise aquinas’ first way
o The change in motion can only happen if something that possessed a state of actuality acted on that in a state of potentiality.
o If you trace the sequence back, there must be a starting point because it can’t infinitely regress
o The starting point must be outside the universe and must not have been moved by anything else.
o Aristotle called it the Prime Mover, but Aquinas called it that Unmoved Mover.
o ‘that which all men call God’
what analogy did aquinas use to show his first way
wood
a piece of cold wood in the state of potentiality can change motion from being cold to hot (on fire) if acted upon by something in the state of actuality
what was aquinas’ second way called
the uncaused causer
when referring to the chain of causes what kind of series does it follow, according to aquinas
hierarchical series, not a temporal series
what are the stages of causes
First/efficient cause.
Intermediate cause.
Ultimate cause.
what does aquinas’ second way focus more on compared to his first way?
cause and effect
concerns how things come into existence rather than how they change state and aquire different properties
what does aquinas say about things being the efficient cause of itself
‘There is no case known, neither is it indeed possible, in which the thing that is found to be the efficient cause of itself.’
sumarise aquinas’ second way
everything that exists has a cause, and that cause has its own cause
the cause of a child is its parents and the cause of the childs parents are their parents
the chain of causes cannot infinitely regress and there has to be an uncaused causer that caused everything
things cannot come into being ex nihlio
for aquinas the efficient cause of the universe is God
what analogy does aquinas use for his second way
dominos
dominos do not fall unless the first one is pushed, causing a chain reaction of the rest falling
what was aquinas; third way called
contingency and necessity
what does contingency mean
Contingency means to be dependent on something else.
what does necessity mean
something that is everlasting, permanent, or non-transitory
in what two ways is everything contingent
Dependent on something else for their existence.
Dependent on something else for the continuation of their existence.
summarise aquinas’ third way
If there was a time when there were no contingent beings, no contingent beings would exist today. Contingent beings cannot come ex nihlio, so there must be a necessary being that is not dependent on its own creation.
‘Some being having of itself its own necessity and not receiving it from another, but rather causing it in others their necessity.’
‘This all men speak of as God.’
God was not caused and does not depend on anything else to exist.
what did aquinas note about his cosmological argument
it can prove the existence of God, not the God of classical theism and christianity
what two scholars were involved in the kalam arguement
Al-kindi and Al-Ghazali.
what did the kalam argument state
(i) Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its existence
(ii) The universe began to exist
(iii) Therefore, the universe has a cause of its existence.
who was william lane craig
An American Christian theologian and analytic philosopher
what did william lane craig argue
it is not possible that the universe is infinite, because infinity is not logically possible
what are the four stages of william lane craigs argument
o Everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence.
o The universe began to exist.
o The universe has a cause of its existence.
o Since no scientific explanation can provide an account of the cause of the universe, there must be a personal creator God.
what was part one of william lane craigs arguement
- He defends his second point. The universe began to exist by rejecting Infinite’s
- The present kind of exist in an actual infinite universe. Successive editions cannot be added to an. Actual infinite.
- If the universe is not an actual infinite, it cannot be a potential infinite either.
- The universe must have a cause, and there must have been a time when it did not exist.
- Something must have made the choice to create the universe which is outside of space and time.
what analogy was used about the infinity of the universe?
a library
Imagine a library with an infinite number of books. Suppose it contains an infinite number of red book synonym for number of black books. For every red there is a black. The library contains and as many read books as the total books and as many read books is black books combined. This is absurd. The subset, red or black, cannot equal the entire set, red and black. Therefore, actual infinites cannot exist.
what is the second part of william lane craigs argument based on
the concept of a personal creator
summarise william lane craigs second part of his argument
o If the universe had a beginning, it was either caused the choice was made to cause it, or un caused it was natural.
o The column argument states that the rules of nature did not exist before the beginning of the universe, so it cannot be natural. ‘If the universe began to exist and it the universe is caused, then the cause of the universe must be a personal being who freely chooses to create the world.’
o The cause cannot be impersonal. The cause must be in a state of quiescence or activity.
o Since it is the cause of a spaciotemporal physical reality, it must be timeless, immaterial, being over man’s power.
