The Cosmological Argument of Aquinas

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  • Created by: Birdy234
  • Created on: 15-05-17 10:12
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  • The Cosmological Argument
    • Main Concepts
      • Cosmos = the universe
      • Inductive = Based on evidence to reach a conclusion
      • A Posteriori = Experiences
    • First Premise = The unmoved mover
      • Premise One = Everything that moves needs a force to act upon it
      • Premise Two = Nothing can put itself into motion
      • God is the unmoved Mover who set everything in motion
    • Aquinas
      • God would be bored by the universe
      • Movement needs a mover
      • God did not create or sustain the universe
      • God is supremely perfect
    • Second Premise = The uncaused causer
      • Premise One = Nothing can be the cause of itself
      • Premise Two = There must have been a cause external to the universe
      • Premise Three = The external cause must have began the whole chain of events
      • The external cause is God
    • Third Premise = Contingency and Necessity
      • Contingent beings rely on what made them and what sustains them
      • God is a necessary being, external to the universe but has the universe rely on them
      • Necessary beings rely on nothing, but have contingent beings that rely on them
    • FOR
      • The Kalam Argument
        • There must have been a time when nothing existed
        • Infinity is a mathematical concept, not applicable to reality
      • William Craig
        • If the universe was infinite nothing would exist now
        • You cannot add to an infinite amount
      • Leibniz
        • Even if it is infinite we still need a reason as to why it exists
        • Everything needs sufficient reason
    • AGAINST
      • Russell
        • Fallacy of composition
        • Trying to use everyday language to explain God
      • The Big Bang Theory
      • Hume
        • Why does god have to be necessary?
        • God could have been created by something else?
    • STRENGTHS/ WEAKNESS
      • STRENGTHS
        • Everyone has experiences of cause and effect
        • Everything needs something to act on it to move
        • Satisfies the human need for a cause to the universe
      • WEAKNESS
        • Using human finite reasoning to explain God
        • Humans are finite trying to explain the infinite
        • Limited concept of god

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