Criticisms of the Cosmological Argument Flashcards
What did Hume say about the explanation of the universe?
Argued that the universe is just brute fact, it does not require an explanation.
What does Copleston say about Hume’s brute fact claim?
There’s no point in starting a discussion if you are not open to considering an explanation. Brute fact is not a sufficient reason for anything in the universe. If everything within the universe has an explanation, then so should the universe, why stop at the universe.
What does Hume say about the beginning of the universe?
Hume says that the universe itself may be eternal. It does not need to have had a beginning.
What does Craig say about infinity?
Infinity doesn’t make sense, you can’t add to infinity, but you can add to the universe, therefore, the universe must have a beginning
What does Hume say about the fallacy of composition?
Just because everything in the universe has a reason for its existence, it does not mean that the universe has a reason for its existence e.g. just because humans have a mother, it doesn’t mean humankind has a mother
What did Russell say about first causes?
Claimed that scientists were discovering “first causes which have not in themselves got causes”.
What did Hume say about our experience of the universe?
We have no experience of other universes and their creation. We were not there when the universe started i.e. we have a lack of empirical evidence and so we cannot draw conclusions about the start of the universe or the design.
What does Hume say about not having a cause?
It is possible to imagine something happening without a cause or a reason
What was Hume’s Epicurean hypothesis?
Given infinite time, all possibilities would happen, so the universe would have come about in infinite time
