Cosmological Flashcards
who created the cosmological argument
the Italian priest + philosopher + theologian thomas aquinas
in what book did aquinas introduce the cosmological argument for the existence of God
summa theologiae
aquinas summa theologiae quote
‘not all beings are merely possible’ - there must exist something the existence of which is needed
what is the argument from degree
possessions come in degrees. in order for there to be degrees of excellence (per)
there must be something that is wholly excellent (per) against which all else is measured
God is the pinnacle of excellence (per)
what is the value of the argument of degree for religious faith
this argument reinforces His omnipotence and omniscience since there is no other excellent (per) being than Him - do good in life in order to please God
what is the argument from causation
all things that are caused must be caused by something else
there cannot be an boundless (in) regress of causes
there must have been an original causer - itself uncaused
that is God
what is the value of the argument of degree for religious faith
it proves His transcendence
what is the argument from contingency (+n)
there are contingent things
contingent things can cause other contingent things but there cannot only be contingent things
because that would mean that there is a boundless (in) regress of contingency and a chance that nothing may have existed
a boundless (in) regress is impossible
so there must be one essential (ne) being and that is God
what argument does russel go against
the argument from contingency
why is russel against the argument
way 3 commits the fallacy of composition
aquinas assumes that God is the contingent being
what is the fallacy of composition
an informal fallacy that arises when one infers that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some section (par) of the whole.
hume quote against the cosmological argument
why not the material universe be the necessarily-existent being (conforms with the principle of occams razor)
what is occams razor
distinguishing between two hypotheses either by removing unnecessary assumptions
occams razor quote
pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate
against 4
some object that there could be a boundless (in) regress of contingent beings with no need for an essential (ne) being
