The cosmological argument
By Gabby Tracey…read more

What does cosmological mean?
· It means arguments which say that god has to
exist because the world exists
· The world could exist without god because
god created it
· ... I personally don't believe this as I am an
atheist…read more

Premise of the argument
· A posteriori = something you need to check,
and have knowledge for
· Assumption:
· The universe has not always been in
existence and for it to come into being an
eternal Prime Mover is necessary. The
universe needs an explanation and it can't be
explained without reference to causes
outside of itself, the existence of a first cause
is necessary! Cause and effect
· God, necessary being!…read more

Key proponents
· Aristotle thought movement and change
meant there must be an `Unmoved Mover'
that lets the world change to move towards
the perfection of this being.
· Aquinas' first three ways: motion, causality
and contingency. Infinite regress is impossible
and the existence of everything must be
traced back to a first cause.
· Leibniz and `sufficient reason'.…read more

Aquinas' cosmological argument
· Thomas Aquinas was probably the most
important philosopher of the medieval
period.
· Aquinas was trying to connect/join the
Christian faith with the philosophy of
Aristotle whose works had just been
`re-discovered' and were being taught in
the religious universities of Europe.…read more

Aquinas
· St. Thomas Aquinas realised that the existence
of the universe is not explicable without
references and factors outside itself. It cannot
be self causing since it is contingent and only
the existence of a first, necessary cause and
mover explains that existence of the universe.
· Aquinas put forward in his book `Summa
Theologica' `five ways' in which he attempted
to prove the existence of God a posteriori.
The first three ways make up the Cosmological
argument.…read more