The Cosmological Argument Flashcards
(8 cards)
1
Q
Outline the Cosmological Argument
A
- A posteriori and inductive
- Proposed by St Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica
- The universe contains clear evidence of cause and effect. This can’t go on forever so there must be a first cause.
- This first cause is the Christian God.
2
Q
Outline Aquinas 1st way - Unmoved Mover
A
- Similar to a domino chain
- Everything that moves is moved by something else
- You can’t have an infinite chain of movers
- There must be an unmoved mover, producing all movement
- That being is God
3
Q
Outline Aquinas’ 2nd way - Uncaused Cause
A
- Everything has a cause
- You can’t have an infinite number of causes
- There must be an uncaused cause
- The uncaused cause is God
4
Q
Outline Aquinas 3rd way - Necessary Being
A
- Things in our world are finite and contingent
- At some time things did not exist
- Something only comes into existence by being caused by something that already exists
- There must be a being that isn’t limited by time, God.
5
Q
How does David Hume critique the Cosmological Argument?
A
- Aquinas is wrong in making a connection between cause and effect
- The universe could simply be a “brute fact” (Bertrand Russel) and does not require a first cause
- We can’t prove the world has a first cause because we were never there to observe it
6
Q
How does Immanuel Kant critique the Cosmological Argument?
A
- Cause and effect only belongs to sense experience. We can’t apply the same experience to God.
- ## If God exists outside of time and space it is impossible for God to know what he created.
7
Q
Explain the fallacy of composition critique of the Cosmological Argument.
A
- Aquinas takes a small amount of evidence for God and makes a big leap to assuming God was the cause of the world
8
Q
What is the Ockham’s Razor defense to the Cosmological Argument?
A
- The most simple and logical explanation is more than likely correct.
- ## It is more logical to assume God created the world than to assume that it came about by chance.
