Cosmological Argument Flashcards
St Thomas aquinas 5 ways
God is not self evident, ways 1,2&3 are cosmological
Way 4 is moral and 5 is teleological
The first way- motion/change
Potential to actual = change
Unchanged changer= God (PM)
Can’t be an infinite regress, must be god
‘Can’t step in same river twice’
The 2nd way - causation
Everything has a cause
Can’t have infinite number of causes
Must be an uncaused causer= God
1st efficient cause – intermediate cause – ultimate cause
3rd way - being/existence
Contingent existence, maybe could’ve not happened
Necessary existence, has to exist
Everything is contingent and has cause
Must be necessary cause
Aquinas believed there needed to be proofs of god
Leibniz
Discovered calculus
Has 2 principles
Leibniz principle 1
Best of all possible worlds
Optimism
God created the world, it is the best of all possibilities
Leibniz principle 2
Principle of sufficient reason
Suggested in his monadology
Everything has to have a sufficient reason, if it doesn’t it doesn’t exist
OR
Big Bang
Russel vs copleston
Russel asks why god has to be the sufficient reason
Copleston, an adequate explanation must ultimately be a total explanation to which nothing further can be added
Russel thinks we will never know, no point
Principle of sufficient reason
Everything must have a reason cause or ground
Copleston
Priest
Professor
Supported aquinas views of cosmological argument
Russel
British philosopher
Found no conviction in cosmological argument as proof for existence of God
Criticism of aquinas argument
Rest on assumption that are no longer widely held
Can’t be endless series of causes-everything leads to one cause could be flawed
Hume challenge against criticism of cosmo argument
Knowledge doesn’t go beyond experience
No logical connection between cause and effect, not on established truth
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Induction
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Attempting to explain the universe with causation is pointless as it is not an absolute truth
