Cosmological Argument Revision (GJW)

8/2/2019 Cosmological Argument Revision (GJW)

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The Cosmological

Argument



Background

• The argument states that the universerequires a cause and an explanation: God.

• ‘Cosmological’ comes from cosmos (Greekfor world); it is concerned with the cause of the world.

• The argument is a posteriori , inductive andsynthetic.

• The first cosmological argument was that of Aristotle, who claimed that God was the‘Prime Mover’ – the original source of motion

in our world.



Saint Thomas Aquinas



Saint Thomas Aquinas

• Aquinas looks back to Aristotle.

• He gives three cosmological arguments.• These form the first three of his famous

Five Ways – five proofs for God.



The First Way

• This is the argument from motion, taken

directly from Aristotle:

1. All things which move have a cause of motion.2. There must have been some original source

of motion, unmoved by anything else.

3. This we call God, the ‘unmoved mover’.



The Second Way

• This is the argument from causality:

1. Everything which exists must have a

cause of its existence.

2. There cannot be an infinite chain of

causes stretching back into the past.

3. There must have been some first causeuncaused by anything else.

4. This we call God, the ‘uncaused cause’.



The Third Way

• This is the argument from contingency.1. Everything which exists is dependent on

something else for its existence and might at

some stage not exist (this means it iscontingent).

2. At one stage, everything did not exist.

3. There must be some thing dependent onnothing else for its existence, the source of all

contingent things.

4. This we call God, who must exist.



How do I write a paragraph on

Aquinas?• Mention his Five Ways and his debt to

Aristotle.

• Distinguish between the three arguments

he gives, giving a sentence or two to

explain each one.

• Practice makes perfect – redraft the

paragraph and time yourself for speed.



Criticisms of Aquinas

• His statement that all things have a cause

of their existence or motion seems to be

contradicted by the claim that God is

uncaused. Why make an exception?

• The argument may prove that the universe

has a cause, but not that this is God.

• Hume – there is no absurdity in suggesting

that some events do not have a cause.



Kalam Cosmological

Argument



al Ghazali

• The Muslim scholar who developed theKalam argument raised some interestingquestions about infinity:

1.In an infinite library, which would begreater – the total number of books or thenumber of books with green spines?

2.If we borrowed a book from an infinitelibrary, would the total number of booksdecrease?



Al Ghazali



So…

• al Ghazali argued that ‘actual infinities’ are

impossible.

• It then follows that the universe cannot be

infinite.

• It must have had a beginning and cause of

its existence.

• This would be God.



William Lane Craig

• He has developed a modern form of the

argument:

1.The universe had a beginning.

2.That beginning was caused.

3.That cause was probably personal(making the choice to create).

4.Therefore God exists.



William Lane Craig through the ages



Criticisms of Craig

• The universe might be infinite (steady

state theory, etc.).

• The cause of the universe might not have

involved any deliberate choice; it might

have been entirely impersonal.



Evaluation



Strengths of the Argument

• a posteriori and inductive: it is based onideas we can observe and verify – objectshave causes, the universe began.

• Most scientists would agree that theuniverse had a beginning (Big Bang).

• It is natural to ask why the universe

began, and science has not yet answeredthis.

• Copleston – if all things have a cause,surely it makes sense for the universe to

have a cause.



Criticisms/Weaknesses

• Immanuel Kant – causality may be somethingimposed on experiences by the mind; it is not

truly real. So, it can only apply to things we

experience, which does not include the creationof the universe.

• All the argument proves is a cause. It fails to

prove the existence of God in traditional terms:loving, powerful, etc .

• Russell: The universe is just here and that is all;

we don’t need to ask why. It is “a brute fact”.



Frederick Copleston

Bertrand Russell



Something to think about…

• It may be the case that some cosmological

arguments are stronger than others.

• Exam questions ask you about ‘the

cosmological’ argument, but there are

many different types. Perhaps one stands

up to criticism, but other arguments do not.

• Also, think about links with the design

argument – what strengths and

weaknesses do they share?

Cosmological Argument Revision (GJW)

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