Philosophy - The Cosmological Argument

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The Cosmological Argument

  • Created by St Thomas Aquinas 
  • a posteriori / Inductive - based on expereince and observation - God is the best explanation for observations of the world

Aqunias 3rd way - all thing in the universe are contingent (dependent of something else to cause it to exist.) - the universe itself is contingent.

  • Everything can exist or not exist
  • Everything is contingent - thye depend upon somthing else for their existence
  • At some point there was nothing
  • Nothing comes from nothing
  • Somthing must exist neccesarily -not dependent on anything else for their existence
  • Everything necessary must be caused or uncaused
  • Necessary being cannot be infinte - they must be some uncasued being
  • This is God

By being an uncaused being - it contains the reason for its own existence - its very nature is to exist - it therefore cannot exist. - It is impossible to have universe consisting entirly of contingent things

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Russell's Criticisms

  • He argues that the Aquinas 3rd way commits the fallacy of composition - it fails as there is a lack of reasoning - the argument is saying that everything is true beacuse only part of it is true.

Aqunias 3rd way

  • Everything in the universe is contingnent
  • The universe a a whole is contingent

For Russell He is saying 

  • Everything in the universe is contingent 
  • But the universe as a whole is necessary

Resposne 

  • Way 3 doesnt commit the fallacy of composition - the best explanation is an uncasued necessary being, beyond the universe who caused everything in a contigent universe.
  • We dont know enough about the universe to decide one way or the other.
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Hume and Russell Criticisms

They both reject the claim that any being can be necessary.

Hume assumes that Aquinas is saying that God's existence is 'logically necessary' - look at the Ontological Argument. 

Response 

  • Aquinas deos not claim that God exists is logically necessary - rather a metaphyscially necessary'
  • Aquinas rejects the Ontological Argument as a logical proof of God.

A metaphysical necessity - a form of necessity that dervives from the nature or essence of things

  • In our experinece everything is contingent
  • The existence of contingent things requires the existence of a being who causes the necessity in other - this is God

However there is no guarantee that Aquians is right

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Hume Criticisms

The universe may be a necessarily - existent being

Occam's Razor - if there are competing hypothesis go with the one that makes the fewest assumptions.

To Hume is something has to be necessary, why cant that be the maytter which makes up the universe. Matter is the simplest thing in the universe

Response

To Aquinas - matter would be a casued necessary being and would still need God as an uncaused necessary being to cause its existence.

Russell

The Universe exists as a 'brute fact' - there are no explanations - this is the simplest explanation for the universe's existence.

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Strengths of the Cosmological Argument

  • Not all arguments commit the fallacy of composition - the argument might be right.
  • Way 3 is talikng about God's metatphyscial necessity not logical necessity
  • The case of necessarily existing matter is no stronger than the cas eof an necessarily existing God.
  • Science works on the assumption that  there are no brute facts, otherwise science wouldnt work. If things in the universe arnt brute facts, why should the universe a a whole be a brute fact.
  • Scinece has not disproved God - some science works alongside religion e.g. the Big Bang.
  • Aqunais says thehre could be a number of caused necessary being, but unless we have an uncasued necessary being, there is no explantion for the existence of the caused necessray being.
  • God must be his own existence - as he is the giver of that necessity, so must contain the reason for its own existence.
  • Copleston -The Principle of Sufficent reason - everything must have an explanation. The existence of a God can explain more things about the universe than scientific theories. 
  • Copleston - Only God can be the complete explanation for the existence of the universe
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Weaknesses of the Cosmological Argument

Aquinas 3rd way

  • Russell - The argument Commits the 'Fallacy of composition'
  • Hume and Russell - we cannot show that a being can exist logically necessary
  • Hume - the universe itself may be a necessary being
  • Russell - the universe exists - brute fact.
  • Why can't there be a group of necessary being not just one?
  • Why can't there be an infintie regress of contingent beings?

Infinite regress - the indefinite sequence of causes whihc dont have a first memebr of the series.

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Aquinas' argument as a proof

  • The 3rd way forms part of the inductive argument for God's existence.
  • The 3rd way does not convince atheisst - so its not the best proof to satisfy a majority
  • We have what amounts to a sufficent proof of the exietence of unobservable entities - quarks (the building blocks of matter below the microscopic level) - God is an unobsrevable enity - it would therefore be unreasobale to deny His existence.
  • The argument could be used to strengthen the faith of a believer - as it provides reason and philosphy to the debate.

The Cosmological Argument forms part of the Cumulative Argument

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The Value of the Cosmological Argument for religio

Shows faith to be resaonable

The argument is a resaonable hypthosesis that the universe owes its existence  and nature to the existence of an uncaused necessary being - God.

Thos ehwo have faith - can see the links made by Aquinas' 3rd way - everything we see is contingent - therefore God must be a necessary being.

Kant argued thata the idea of God as a necessray being works alongside the Ontological Argument and because that fails the Cosmological argument also fails

For Aquinas, faith in God is support by reason - Faith comes from God's grace not just reasoned arguments - Karl Barth rejected any attempt to prove God's existence - only now God through Jesus.

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