The Cosmological Argument - 643 Words

The Cosmological Argument An important argument to try and prove the existence of God is the Cosmological Argument brought on by observations of the physical universe, made by Saint Thomas Aquinas, a thirteenth century Christian philosopher. The cosmological argument is a result from the study of the cosmos; Aquinas borrows ideas from Aristotle to make this systematically organized argument. Aquinas’ first point begins with the observation that everything is moving. Aquinas’ says that everything that moves must be moved by another moving thing, which has to be moved by another moving thing and so on. This cannot be infinite though, because consequently the motion of the series would have no origin, and the origin of this series cannot†¦show more content†¦But David Hume, a Scottish philosopher, objected to Aquinas second point by arguing that if each individual link in the chain of causes and motions can be explained then there is no need for an additional explanation for the whole of t he chain. The explanation of each part is enough of an explanation for the whole itself. But defenders say that the discovery of the Big Bang theory would be the beginning of the causes and motions in the universe and is not infinite, so infinite regress would not be possible. A third objection to the cosmological argument as a whole is that Aquinas insists that everything has a cause; if that is true, then what caused God? There being an uncaused cause would be a contradiction to Aquinas whole argument that everything has a cause yet God has no cause. But Aquinas defends his argument by saying that only everything in our universe has a cause because everything in our universe is a limited, dependent being. That still would require an uncaused, neither finite, nor dependent being unlike anything in our universe, God. Critics also object that the cosmological argument does not prove a loving and personal God, but Aquinas would probably respond by stating that this wouldn’t prove his argument is wrong, only that it has a limited purpose. I think between the two arguments, Cosmological and Ontological, the cosmologicalShow MoreRelatedCosmological Argument1401 Words   |  6 PagesExamine the cosmological argument for the existence of God. The cosmological argument is an a posteriori argument which intends to prove that there is an intelligent being that exists; the being is distinct from the universe, explains the existence of the universe, and is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent and omnibenevolent. The basic notion of cosmological arguments is that the world and everything in it is dependent on something other than itself for its existence. It explains that everythingRead MoreRegarding the Cosmological Argument1564 Words   |  7 PagesRegarding the Cosmological Argument The goal of the cosmological argument is to support the claim that God exists as the first cause of the universe. According to Nagel, the argument runs as following: (P1) Every event must have a cause. (P2) If every event must have a cause, event A must have a cause B, which in turn must have a cause C, and so on. (P3) There is no end to this backward progression of causes. (C1) This backward progression of causes will be an infinite series of event. (P4)Read MoreAquinas’ Cosmological Arguments Essay1631 Words   |  7 PagesAquinas’ Cosmological Arguments The Cosmological Argument for the existence of God, as propounded by Thomas Aquinas, is also known as the Third Way. It is the Third of Five ways in Aquinass masterpiece, The Summa (The Five Ways). The five ways are: the unmoved mover, the uncaused causer, possibility and necessity, goodness, truth and nobility and the last way the teleological. The first three ‘ways’ are different variations of the cosmological argument. Read MoreExplain Aquinas Cosmological Argument652 Words   |  3 PagesExplain Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument The basis of the cosmological argument is that the universe cannot account for its own existence. There must be a reason, the argument says, for the existence of the universe and the reason has to be something which is not part of the physical world of time and space. The cosmological argument was used by Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) in his five ways, which were ways of demonstrating the existence of God through inductive argument based on observation and evidenceRead MoreThe Cosmological Argument On The Existence Of God1444 Words   |  6 Pages Theories have arisen from many different philosophers trying to explain the existence of God; the Cosmological Argument is one such theory. The Cosmological Argument has been changed and reviewed for years; however, the focus has always stayed the same. The universe is a prime example that there is a God. A simple Cosmological argument states that: Everything that exists has a cause of its existence. The universe exists. Therefore, The universe has a cause of its existence. If the universe hasRead MoreWeak Arguments in Cosmological Argument by Thomas Aquinas692 Words   |  3 Pagesattempted to prove the existence of God in a rational way through his Cosmological argument. Aquinas argued that every event as we observe it has a cause and a casual chain cannot be infinite. Therefore, a first cause is necessary and this cause is God. Aquinas’ argument is unsuccessful because it assumes that God is a necessary being, fails to prove that the world is not an infinite chain of events, and undermines the basis of his argument by saying that God is infinite. Aquinas argued the existenceRead MoreThe Cosmological Argument For The Existence Of God Essay1556 Words   |  7 Pagesreality of a being who, by definition, is not given in phenomenal experience? My position is that it is impossible to prove the non-existence of God, since I believe that God exists. I would use it the cosmological arguments, teleological and Ontological to prove that God exists. The cosmological argument for the existence of God is as follows: The world could not exist by itself so there must be a first cause that brought him into existence. The universe can not have an infinite past, he must have hadRead MoreThe Ontological, Cosmological, And Design Argument1624 Words   |  7 Pagesbenevolent God they do not need science to show proof that he exists because of their morals and beliefs they have been raised to follow. In this paper I will prove that God does exist by explaining the ontological, cosmological, and design argument. The ontological argument was an argument created by Saint Anselm. Anselm argued that if we thought about what God is and what he can do then we know he must exist. What Anselm means by this is that if our minds can think of something so great like God,Read MoreThe Cosmological Argument For The Existence Of God1957 Words   |  8 Pagesthe KalÄ m Cosmological Argument (KCA), demonstrating that it offers strong evidence for the existence of God, thereby providing a rational foundation for the Christian faith. Background The cosmological argument is, â€Å"a family of arguments that seek to demonstrate the existence of a Sufficient Reason or First Cause of the existence of the cosmos.† Historians trace an early version of the cosmological argument to Ibn SÄ «nÄ  (c. 980–1037), and philosophers commonly differentiate argument variationsRead MoreDissecting Clarkes Cosmological Argument796 Words   |  4 PagesClarke’s Cosmological Argument In the following paper, I will outline Samuel Clarke’s â€Å"Modern Formulation of the Cosmological Argument† and restate some of the points that he makes. Samuel Clarke’s argument for the existence of God states that â€Å"There has existed from eternity some one unchangeable and independent being† (37). The argument follows a logical flow and can be better understood when the structure is laid out and the argument reconstructed. Clarke begins his argument with a use