Cosmological Argument

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Cosmological Argument
Put foward by Aristotle, used to seek the existence in God | Inductive-unlogical | Posteriori, based on observation
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Aristotle
"All things that are in motion must be moved by something"
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Aristotle- Cosmological Argument
Put foward the idea of an "UNMOVED MOVER" who is the ultimate cause for the universe because we all need a beginning, otherwise we wouldn't exist
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Unmoved mover / Prime mover
All movements are dependent on a cause, nothing can be caused without a cause | We need a "UNMOVED MOVER" to cause the universe - known as a "PRIME MOVER" [For Aristotle this is God]
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The domino Analogy
Dominos need a cause to fall, like everything in the universe has to have a cause.
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AQUINAS
Felt that Aristotle's idea was compatible with Christianity
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Aquainas' Cosmological Argument
1) Motion/Change/Unmoved mover 2) Causation 3) Contingeny & Necessary
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1) Unmoved Mover/ Motion
Aquinas considered the ways that things change and how they change & realised that everything has to have a cause to move. | Aquainas rejects the idea of an infinate regress & thinks we need a start, otherwise we would not exist
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1) Unmoved Mover/ Motion Cont.
For something to change, it needs the characteristics of change 'Wood has the potential to be hot & fire will cause the wood to be hot leading to the wood actualy being hot'
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1) Unmoved Mover/ Motion Conc. *Prime Mover*
Therefore, we must of had a prime mover who moves everything and is the source to all motion. The prime mover does not need to be caused or moved.
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2) Causation
Because we can not have an infinate regress of causes, there must be an a first cause for the universe who is superior enough not to need a cause - the uncausedcause
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2) Causation *Uncaused Cause*
The uncaused cause, is the cause for the universe which is the first cause and itself is not caused. We call this GOD
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3) Contingency & Necessary
Things in the world = contingent - relies on something for its existence, ie humans. || Something that does not need to rely on anything = God, nothing caused it
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3) Contingency & Necessary Cont.
If everything was contingent then we would not have esisted, we need something necessary that causes and sustains all of the contingent things of the world - ie God.
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The Kalm Argument
William Lane Craig - agrees that there can not be an infinate regress
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The Kalm Argument Cont.
Universe cannot be infinate | a finite universe has a start | The universe has a cause | This cause is God **Why God? Why can we not have an infinate regress?**
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God as a sustainer
Alice in Wonderland is only in wonderland when she is asleep, wonderland only exists when Alice is asleep - Alice is the sustainer of wonderland exisiting. Ie. God is the sustainer of the universe
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Frederick Copleston
Agrees with Aquinas' Causation theory. A cause needs to be sustained in order for something to happen
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Leibniz
Principle of Sufficent Reason
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Principle of Suffient reason
For anything to exist there has to be a suffient reason as to why it exists, the sufficent reason for the universe is God .. God has no need for a sufficent reason as he is the sufficent reason for himself
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FALACY OF COMPOSITION **against**
Betrand Russel - We are never going to reach an adeqaute reason for the start of the universe
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BERTRAND RUSSEL **against**
Just because we have a mother it does not mean the universe has to "The Universe is there and that is all"
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DAVID HUME **against**
Hume = Empiricist || We have not experienced God, so we cannot tell if GOd is the cause 'The idea of cause from the start of the universe can be plain imagination'
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DAVID HUME **against**
We can make an educated guess but not know for sure. I.e - See a broken window with a ball next to it, we can make an eductaed guess on how it borke - but never know for sure
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ANTHONY KENNY **against**
Explains away Aquinas motion argument with the fact that humans chose to move for themselves
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SCIENCE **against**
Theories like the big bang theory and red shift suggest that the universe was caused by different reasons and not God
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OCKHAM'S RAZOR **for**
William Ockham - the simplist answer = most likely [supported by Richard Swinburne]
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J.L MACKIE **for**
Illustrated rejection of infinate regress with a set of carriages, they can not get anywhere without an engine - God is the universes engine
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STRENGTHS
Science is never fully explained, scientists agree the universe has some form of cause || Simplest answer = most likely - God ||
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WEAKNESSES
•God of gaps theory- we have gaps in our knowledge which we fill with God || Why does God not have a cause? || Why do we need a first cause? ||
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

"All things that are in motion must be moved by something"

Back

Aristotle

Card 3

Front

Put foward the idea of an "UNMOVED MOVER" who is the ultimate cause for the universe because we all need a beginning, otherwise we wouldn't exist

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

All movements are dependent on a cause, nothing can be caused without a cause | We need a "UNMOVED MOVER" to cause the universe - known as a "PRIME MOVER" [For Aristotle this is God]

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Dominos need a cause to fall, like everything in the universe has to have a cause.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

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