Cosmological argument Flashcards
Inductive argument
Inductive arguments are probabilistic (the truth of its conclusion cannot be guaranteed by the truth of its premises)
Aristotle quote
“We do not have knowledge of a thing until we have grasped it’s why, that is to say its cause”
Aquinas’ 5 ways for proving Gods existence
1 motion (unmoved mover)
2 causation (uncaused cause)
3 necessity
4 perfection
5 design
What type of argument
Inductive
A posteriori
Based in observation empiricism
Aquinas’ focus
Focuses on contingency and necessity
Way 3 is the observation that all things we see in the universe are contingent, they are moved, changed and caused. They do not need to exist, but they do. This applies to galaxies, stars, planets people and trees
AQUINAS - THE THIRD WAY
-Everything in the natural world is contingent - everything can exist or not-
exist
-If everything is contingent, then at some time there was nothing, because there must have been a time before anything had begun to exist
-If there was once nothing, then nothing could have come from nothing
-Therefore something must exist necessarily, otherwise nothing would now exist, which is false
-Everything necessary must either be caused or uncaused
-But the series of necessary beings cannot be infinite or there would be no explanation of that series
-Therefore there must be some uncaused being which exists of its own necessity
-By this we all understand God
GERRY HUGHES - SUMMARY
NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT CAUSAL
EXPLANATION
A SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION CANNOT
APPEAL TO SOMETHING WHICH ‘JUST HAPPENED’ AND WAS NOT CAUSED. For example, a satisfactory explanation cannot appeal to ‘brute facts’.
THE EXISTENCE OF THE UNIVERSE REQUIRES. AN EXPLANATION OUTSIDE ITSELF
IT IS REASONABLE TO THINK OF THIS
‘TRANSCENDENT’ EXPLANATION AS GOD.
Contingent Beings
Things that are dependent on something else for their existence. In the Cosmological Argument, contingency implies the existence of something necessary - God.
Quote
“Out of nothing, nothing can come”
