What are the key facets to the arguments in the cosmological family?
‘Cosmos’: Universe in Greek
‘Logos’: The Study of
- always a posteriori premises.
- Often a deductive conclusion.
- Either based on contingency or causation.
- Either vertical or horizontal.
What is a cosmological argument based on contingency?
An argument based on the dependance of the universe on an external force for its sustainance.
This force is always God.
What is a cosmological argumet based on causation?
- Everything has a cause
- The universe must have a cause.
- This cause is God.
What is a vertcal cosmological argument?
- Always concerned with the recession of causation.
- Claims an infinite regress is impossible.
- Therefore, the universe must rely on something to cause it.
- ‘Going up’ in the change of causes.
What is a horizontal cosmological argument?
- ‘Going back’ in the temporal order of recessive contingency or cause.
- Claims infinite regress temporally is impossible.
What is the main argument for the Kalam argument?
Al-Ghazali:
- Horizontal arg.
- Deductive arg.
- Aristotle ‘Nothing can come from nothing,’
- Planet analogy:
- Jupiter orbits around the sun every 12 years
- Saturn orbits every 30 years.
Infinite time would mean they’ve orbite the same amount of time. This is impossible.
What is a criticism of the Kalam argument?
- It falls pray to the idea that an infinite series is impossible, and the causal principle is true. Both argued against by Hume.
What is Aquinas’ first way?
- Argument from motion.
- Vertical argument (causal change)
- Causation argument
- Deductive argument
Things require other thing to move them. - If the world were infinite, this would go on forever. Then, there would be no first cause, and the chain wouldn’t exist at all! Reductio ad absurdum.
What is a criticism of Aquinas’ first way?
William Rowe: There are exceptions to the rule that something can only turn into a state by something already in that state. E.g., non-reciprocated love.
- A plant dying by the hands of a living fungus.
What is Aquinas’ second way?
- Argument from atemporal causation
- vertical (Based on causation)
- Deductive argument
- Everything has an efficient cause.
- This can’t go on forever.
- The first cause must be God.
What are the four types of causes which Aristotle highlights?
Efficient cause: Primary explanation (Principles of sculpture by the artist)
Material cause: Casting in Bronze
Formal cause: The mold used to make the sculpture
Final cause: The display of this piece of art.
What are some criticisms of Aquinas’ second way?
1) Does not prove God’s attributes, only that he is the first efficient cause. Therefore, it is not really a proof of the God of Abraham.
2) Aquinas contradicts himself. ‘Nothing can be its own cause,’ Yet, God is supposed to be the cause of himself, and therefore what’s wrong with the idea of the universe being its first cause?
What is Aquinas’ Third way?
- Argument from contingency: Strongest Aquinas arg.
- Horizontal, as it is concerned with temporal sustainance.
- Deductive.
- Everything in the universe is dependent on something else.
- All of these dependencies are contingent, and not necessary.
- At some point, there must’ve been nothing in the universe if everything is contingent. Therefore, there must be a necessary thing.
What is a criticism of Aquinas’ Third way?
Mackie argues we have not yet reached the time in which there are no contingent beings, and it may come in the future. (VERY bold claim)
What is Descartes’ cosmological argument?
Argument from continued existence: (not like other girls)
- Causation and Contingency.
- Abductive arg. (Arg to the best explanation)
There are four (Exhaustive?) options for how Descartes was created:
- his parents: They may not have made him, as they are responsible for only physical creation.
- himself: He would have remembered this, and would’ve made himself pefect.
- He has always existed: He would remember experiencing this.
- God has made him: This is the only logical option.
What is a criticism of Descartes’ cosmological argument?
1) Relies on the causal principle
2) Does not allow for alternative options of creation. What about a process of evolution?
3) something being as perfect as its creator does not necessarily relate to the world of ideas. Humans make up fantastical perfections of the world all the time.
What is Leibniz’ cosmological argument?
Argument from the principle of sufficient reason:
- From contingency
- Vertical argument.
- Deductive arg.
- Everything that occurs has sufficient reason.
- Necessary facts are self-contained as tautologies.
- There is an infinite regress of sufficient reasons which must be stopped at some point.
- This can be fulfilled in the necessary being of God.
What are the criticisms of Leibniz’ argument from contingency?
1) Quantum physics suggests that not everything has a cause in the way our brains have a blik.
2) Does everything need a reason beyond the reasons we give? Chemical X mixes with Y to get Z, isn’t that a sufficient reason enough?
