Cosmological Argument Flashcards
Is the cosmological argument a posteriori or a priori? And what does this mean?
An a posteriori argument meaning it is based on experience and observation.
What observation about the world is the cosmological argument based on?
Observations about how everything in the world has a cause so is contingent meaning there must be a creator who gives these things their contingency which would make this being necessary and not contingent (God).
Outline the argument Aquinas forms for the cosmological argument
P1 Everything in the world is contingent (it can either exist or not)
P2 If things exist, there must be some time when they didn’t exist
C1 There must have been some time when NOTHING existed
P3 Things exist now
C2 There must be something that everything depends on for its existence - something that ensures everything else exists but is itself necessary (not contingent)
C3 This Necessary Being is God
What is the difference between a contingent and necessary being?
A contingent being is one which comes into and out of existence, i.e. its existence is not necessary. Pens, cats, and stars are all contingent because they are caused to come into being in time, they have been given existence by something else so are caused. Whereas a necessary being is one for which there can be no external explanation, it doesn’t rely on anything else for its existence and is uncaused.
Aquinas’ argument is reductio ad absurdum, what does this mean?
Reductio ad abusrdum means - reduce to absurdity. Aquinas starts thinking about contingency and draws the conclusion that the universe shouldn’t exist at all because if everything is caused from something else then there must have been a time with no beings but then there would be nothing now - which is absurd. So he has to challenge one of his premises - the idea that everything is contingent. In order the explain the existence of the universe, there must be something that is non-contingent (Necessary) for everything else to depend upon.
Give an example of something Aquinas observed to develop his argument
He observed the cosmos and how all things in our universe eg planets and galaxies are changed as a result of cause and effect
