Describe Aquinas cosmological arguments
-Aquinas was a Christians Philosopher in the 1200s
-he wanted to make an argument which connected both Christianity and Philosophy together to show that Christianity could be logical
-he made a cosmological cause and affect argument that God exists
-he said that everything that exists has a cause
-and every cause has its own cause
-however the causes of causes cannot go back forever, as it would be infinite
-this means that there has to be a first uncaused causer, which then caused everything else
-therefore God exists as he is the only being that is the most powerful
Why may people support the cosmological argument ?
-it fits in with the real world as we can observe that the universe does exist and everything that exists does in fact need a cause or a beginning
-Christians believe that God is omnipotent meaning that he is all powerful and that their is no limit to his power and strength, meaning that only God could be the cause of the universe as he is the in,y being powerful enough
-it makes sense for God to be a ‘necessary’ being as He is already described as being transcendent meaning that he is beyond the natural experience, and is in a different category from the things that are part of the material universe
-many mathematicians believe that in fine regress is impossible, so there needs to be a first cause, and the only being that we believe doesn’t need a cause for its existence is God
-sciences support the idea of universe having a begging, like Bug Bang, and agree that things can’t just happen on their own without a cause
Why would people not agree with Cosmological Arguments
-the argument contains self-contradiction as it states that there are no uncaused causes yet it also says that God doesn’t need a cause
-we assume that because everything in our experience needs a cause, then everything must have a cause too but our human experience is limited and there may be other things that don’t need a cause
-some may argue that if God doesn’t need a cause then why does the universe need one? Why can the universe also be an uncaused cause, like God?
-quantum physics suggest particles may be able to just appear, so perhaps the singularity occurred spontaneously
-the universe may be going through an infinite number,f expansions and concentration,which fits the eastern cosmology
-the argument is based on assumptions, therefore it proves nothing, the most it shows is that it might e reasonable to believe in God, that’s all
-if God is uncaused, surely there has to be something more simpler and powerful to cause Him
