Cosmological Flashcards
What does ‘a priori’ mean?
before, not based on experience
What does ‘a posteriori’ mean?
based on experience
What’s the Kalam argument?
(13th Century) Everything that has a beginning has a cause. Since the universe had a beginning, the universe was caused. Since a cause must be distinct from its effect, the universe must have been caused by a non-physical entity.
What’s the ‘chain of causes’ argument?
Every event is caused by some previous even, which is itself caused. The key feature of this argument is, again, that the Universe has a beginning. Therefore, there is a chain of causes. The chain of causes must have its origins in a First Cause, an efficient cause of the rest of the chain, which is not itself caused. Since there is no uncaused first cause, you have an infinite regress.
What’s the argument from contingency?
Events in the universe are contingent (need not have occurred). A contingent event occurs only if it is caused to occur. There is, therefore, a chain of causes which must have its origins in a necessary being/event (one that could not have not existed/occurred) therefore only god is necessary. This argument does not hinge on the universe having a beginning.
What do the Kalam Argument, the ‘chain of causes’ argument, and the argument from contingency all attempt to show?
That the universe itself has a cause
Problems of Causation- Hume
David Hume (1711-1776) claimed that human observation can link different events together. If one event follows another, it is logical to conclude that there is a necessary connection between the two events. If Hume (atheist) is correct, it is justifiable to infer a causal connection between two events after observing repeated instances. As there has no been repeated observations of universes being created, we cannot infer anything about this universe.
Problems of Causation- Kant
Immanuel Kant (theist) has a similar objection in his Critique of Pure Reason (1781). Kant argues that because causation arises with the patio-temporal world of experience, it is confined to the observable world, so to talk of causation outside of that realm ‘has no meaning whatsoever’.
Problems of Causation- Mill
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) raised a different objection in his article ‘Theism’. Mill claims that since our experience teaches us that all events are caused by other events, a cause that was not itself caused cannot be possible. Therefore, Mill criticised the possibility of an uncaused first cause as nobody has ever experienced it.
Problems of Causation- Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) proposed the ‘principle of sufficient reason’- nothing is the way it is without sufficient reason for being so (i.e. ’Nothing will come of nothing ’~Shakespeare). Modern Science relates to this view. The history of science has implied that things do not ‘just happen’, but gradually happen with events becoming relevant to each other. To reject the idea that there is an ultimate cause of the universe is implicitly to reject the principle of sufficient reason: something will have come of nothing.
The Question of Time- Aquinas
St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) rejected the idea of infinite history . He claimed, if there were no first cause, no subsequent causes would ever come into being. Therefore if the sequence does not have a beginning, how can the sequence occur at all. This is the chain of causes argument.
The Question of Time- Big Bang Theory (and evidence)
The ‘big- bang theory’ suggest the universe has a beginning and therefore does not have an infinite history. This theory suggest the universe began as one exceedingly dense, hot, concentration of neutrons which exploded. Neutrons clumped together to from hydrogen etc. The process of formation has resulted in the universe today. There are three major pieces of evidence for this theory:
→ In 1948, scientists claim if the big bang theory was correct there would be traces of radiation from the initial explosion. In 1965, the radiation was shown to exist.
→ Calculations of the relative amounts of various elements in the universe, based on the theory, accord well with observations of the universe
→ there is no was of accounting for the inordinate amount of helium in the universe other than the big bang theory
The Question of Time- Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking offers an alternative view in A Brief History of Time (1988)- the model of space-time curvature. Hawking proposed that space and time had four dimensions and together they formed a ‘surface’ which is finite in size, but has no beginning or end. This theory can also explain all the complex structures in the universe. The only evidence against this theory is quasar’s which suggest past explosions. The understanding of space and time has serious consequences for The Kalam argument and the chain of causes argument as Hawking points out: “If the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have neither beginning or end. What place, then, for a creator?”
What is a contingent event?
an even which need not have occurred
The Argument of Contingency rests on the idea that….
the universe doe not need to exist
What is the difficulty with the argument from contingency?
The difficulty with this argument is the concepts of necessity and contingency (not necessity), usually used to refer to the connection between a subject and a predicate (characteristic). For example, a predicate of a triangle is that it has three sides (logically necessary- de dicto) but also that it may be drawn in red ink.
Contingency- Hume
Hume insists that matters of fact and relations to ideas are entirely separate and cannot be combined. Hume believes there cannot be necessary existence or contingent existence, since necessity and contingency are relations of ideas and existence is matter of fact.
Contingency- Kant
Kant offers a different view, stating that existence cannot be necessary because necessity is a relation between a subject and a predicate (characteristic), but existence is not a predicate. To say that something exists, according to Kant, is to say that there is something which corresponds with my concept of that thing. To say that existence is a predicate would mean that an existing thing could never correspond precisely with the concept of it- for the concept does not have the property of existence.
Contingency- Frege
Gottlob Frege (1848-1925) had a similar idea. To say that x exists, according to Frege, means not that x has the property of existence, but that there is at least one thing that corresponds to the concept of x.
Aquinas’ view
God’s existence is identical with God’s essence
Paul Tillich’s view
God as ‘Being-itself’
John Hick ‘s view
talks about aseity (God is independent of all that is not God)
Theist and Deist views on God
Theists claim that God is continually involved in the universe, whereas deists claim that God created the universe and left it to obey its own laws.
How do theists counter argue the cosmological argument?
Theists may counter argue that the cosmological argument can be used to prove that God sustains the universe in existence. If you replace “Why does it start?” with “Why doesn’t it stop?”, the cosmological argument can be used to conclude that the Universe continues to exist due to a Divine cause.
