theme 1 - introduction to inductive proofs Flashcards
what is inductive reasoning based on?
- experience, sense experience and empirical evidence
what type of conclusions do inductive proofs reach?
- probable conclusions, inductive proofs do not guarantee certainty, as there are always other possible conclusions
what does the cosmological argument propose about the universe?
- the universe requires an explanation for its existence, everything has a cause.
what is premise 1 of the cosmological argument?
- everything has a cause
what is premise 2 of the cosmological argument?
- the universe has a cause
what conclusion does the cosmological argument reach?
- the cause is God
- who put forward the most famous form of the cosmological argument?
- St Thomas Aquinas
how many ways did Aquinas propose to prove that God exists?
- five ways
What are the first three ways of Aquinas known as?
Cosmological arguments
Who greatly influenced St Thomas Aquinas?
Aristotle
What does Aristotle argue about motion?
Everything that moves is moved by something else
What must exist to prevent an infinite series of motion according to Aristotle?
A first mover
What is an example of potentiality according to Aristotle?
A piece of marble has the potential to become a statue
What is required for potential to be actualized?
An efficient cause
What is Aquinas’s First Way focused on?
Motion or change
What do we observe in nature according to Aquinas’s First Way?
Things in a state of change or motion
According to Aquinas, what initiates the sequence of movements?
Something outside the universe
What term does Aristotle use for the origin of motion?
Prime mover
What term does Aquinas use for the first cause of motion?
Unmoved mover
For Aquinas, who is the unmoved mover?
God of classical theism
What do Aristotle and Aquinas argue about change?
Change can only occur when something that possesses actuality acts on potentiality
What law is observable in nature according to Aquinas? (Aquinas’ second way)
Cause and effect
What did Aquinas state about self-causation?
Nothing can cause itself
Why can’t something exist before itself according to Aquinas?
It would be like being your own parent
What concept did Aquinas reject regarding the universe?
Infinite regress, the universe cannot go back forever
What must there have been according to Aquinas to avoid infinite regress?
A first uncaused cause
Who does Aquinas argue is the first uncaused cause?
God
What does Aquinas identify about the existence of things? (Aquinas’ third way)
The contingency of things
What are contingent beings dependent on?
Something else for their existence
What conclusion did Aquinas reach about contingent existence?
If everything was contingent, nothing would ever have come into existence
What must there be for everything else to come into existence according to Aquinas?
A necessary being
Why can’t God be contingent according to Aquinas?
Otherwise he could need a cause to bring him into existence
Who is associated with the kalam argument? Where does the argument originate from?
William Lane Craig
The kalam argument originates with Islamic philosophers such as Al Ghazali
What is the first premise of Craig’s argument?
Everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence.
What is the second premise of Craig’s argument?
The universe began to exist.
What conclusion does Craig draw from his premises?
Therefore the universe has a cause of its existence.
What does Craig argue about the nature of the universe’s cause?
The cause must be personal
What is the significance of the universe having a beginning according to Craig?
The being that created it must have chosen to do so.
What attributes must the personal being (God) have according to Craig?
- Omnipotence
- Omnibenevolence
Does Craig accept or reject potential infinity? why?
- accepts
- like the future, events are constantly being added to the sum total
- there is a beginning but no end
Does Craig accept or reject actual infinity? why?
- rejects
- actual infinity has no beginning and no end
- if actual infinity was real we would never reach the present moment
What example does Craig use about a library with an infinite number of books to prove that actual infinites cannot exist in reality?
- imagine a library with an infinite number of books
- suppose the library also contains an infinite number of red books and an infinite number of black books, so that for every red book there is a black book and vice versa
- the library must contain as many red books and the total number of black books in the collection
- in reality there cannot be as many red books as there are red and black together
- therefore actual infinites cannot exist in reality
What does William Lane Craig argue about the existence of the present moment? What does this imply?
The present moment exists
This implies that time cannot be actually infinite.
What conclusion can be drawn from the existence of the present moment according to Craig?
The universe must have had a start.
According to William Lane Craig, what must have caused the universe to come into existence?
The universe must have had a cause.
Who does William Lane Craig identify as the cause of the universe?
The cause is God.
If the universe had a beginning, what does Craig assert about the being that created it?
The being that created it must have chosen to do so.
What attributes does William Lane Craig attribute to God based on his arguments?
God is a personal being with divine attributes, including:
* Omnipotence
* Omnibenevolence
