Cosmological Argument Flashcards
What are the four causes
Material
Formal
Efficient
Final
What is the material cause
What something is made of
The physical properties
What is the formal cause
Structure or design
What makes it one thing rather an another
What is efficient cause
Thing or agent which actually brings something about
What is final cause
Ultimate purpose
Who created the four causes
Aristotle
What type of argument is cosmological argument
A posterior
Inductive
Attempts to infer existence of god from the cosmos
What is the prime mover
Chain of cause and effect cannot go on forever - infinite regress
Aristotle argued there must be something that started it
An uncaused cause it prime mover
What is way 3
Argument form necessity and contingency
What does contingent mean
Dependent on something else
Describe way 3
All beings in this world are created then perish - contingent beings
If all beings are contingent then there must have been a time when nothing existed
All beings cannot be contingent - must be a necessary being - “God” who brought things into existence.
Breakdown of Aquinas’ 3rd way
We observe things that exist
Things that exist, exist contingently
if all things that exist may not exist, at some point nothing existed
if nothing existed then nothing exists now
it is false to say that nothing exists now
false to say that the only thing that exists exists contingently
there is a necessary being
this god
how did the universe come about
universe is caused by a necessary being
criticisms to Aquinas’ cosmological argument
fallacy of composition
no being can be necessary
the universe may be the necessary being
the universe is a brute fact
explain criticism fallacy of composition
By Russel
inadequate explanation
Although things in the world are contingent that doesn’t mean the world as a whole is contingent
The world itself could be the necessary being instead of God
explain criticism of no being can be necessary
Hume and Russel
if everything has a cause then god must also have had a cause
there is no special category above us - where would this come from
therefore necessary being is meaningless
explain criticism that the universe may be the necessary being
Hume
why not stop at the empirical this is a much simpler argument
fits with Occam’s razor
explain criticism that universe is a brute fact
Russel
doesn’t require an explanation
“the universe just is”
what is occams razor
if there is more than one reason or hypothesis
the simplest one is the best
explain response to fallacy of composition
standard encyclopaedia of philosophy does not agree that it commits fallacy of composition
reasonable to say that there is something outside the universe - something necessary.
explain response to no being can be necessary
Aquinas says god has metaphysical necessity talks about a logical necessity
“You must understand the meaning because you are talking about it” - cople
explain response to the universe may be the necessary being
Aquinas
matter might exist necessarily but would have needed an uncaused necessity like God to cause it into existence
explain response to universe is a brute fact
science works on assumption there are no brute facts otherwise science wouldn’t work
if things in the universe are not brute fact then why should universe as a whole be brute fact
He has committed falacy of composition in own argument
