Cosmological Argument Flashcards
Who came up with the cosmological argument?
Thomas Aquinas
What did he believe about god?
He is omnipotent, benevolent, omniscient and eternal
What was his book about?
Summa Theolgica
Had 5 proofs for the existence of god, the first 3 are the cosmological argument
First argument?
Motion
Growth is movement and nothing moves by themselves (folder pushed)
First mover was god
Second argument?
Causation
All things require a cause
First cause is god
Third argument?
Contingency
Everything is finite and contingent, must have been a point where there was nothing, things need a necessary being to cause contingent things
Who criticised aquinas’ cosmological argument?
David Humes
What were the criticisms?
We weren’t there- no empirical evidence
Fallacy of composition- things have causes doesn’t mean everything needs one big cause
If it was god, why?
May not have been god, could have been a team
What is the other version of the cosmological argument?
The Kalam cosmological argument
Who came up with the other version?
Al Khindi and Al Ghazali
Islamic philosophers
What does the kalam argument say?
The universe does not have an infinite past because you can add days. It is only a potential infinity. God was the cause at the beginning
How did William Lane Craig explain it?
An infinite library cannot be added to or taken away from, the universe must be finite because you can add days to it, the cause is god
Criticisms of the kalam argument
Does the universe need a cause? Couldn’t it have always been? Bertrand Russell “the universe is a brute fact”
Did it have to be god? Could have been science or Flying Spaghetti Monster
Argument is contradictory- everything needs a cause except the first cause
