The Cosmological Argument

1. The Cosmological Argument The basics Make Notes on the first 7 slides Reece, can you be in charge of Lollypop sticks and ask people to take turns in reading Sophie R, can you be in charge of moving the Powerpoint slides on…

2. Background • The argument states that the universe requires a cause and an explanation: God. • ‘Cosmological’ comes from cosmos (Greek for world); it is concerned with the cause of the world. • The argument is a posteriori (based on experience), inductive (probabilistic) and synthetic (requiring evidence, not purely logical). • Perhaps the first cosmological argument was that of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who claimed that there must be a ‘Prime Mover’ – the original source of motion in our world.

3. Thomas Aquinas

4. Saint Thomas Aquinas • A 13th century theologian from Italy. • Aquinas looks back to Aristotle. • He gives three cosmological arguments. • These form the first three of his famous Five Ways – five proofs for God. • These are taken from his great work Summa Theologica.

5. The First Way • This is the argument from motion, taken directly from Aristotle: • All moving things have a source of motion. • There must have been some original source of motion, unmoved by anything else. • This we call God, the ‘unmoved mover’.

6. The Second Way • This is the argument from causality: • Everything which exists must have a cause of its existence. • There cannot be an infinite chain of causes stretching back into the past. • There must have been some first cause uncaused by anything else. • This we call God, the ‘uncaused cause’.

7. The Third Way • This is the argument from contingency. • Everything which exists is dependent on something else for its existence and might at some stage not exist (it is contingent). • At one stage, everything did not exist. • There must be some thing dependent on nothing else for its existence, the source of all contingent things. • This we call God, who must exist.

8. Make a poster outlining the three ways Using plain paper and the coloured pencils Spend 10 minutes on this

9. Write a paragraph on Aquinas and then give it to your neighbour to check • Mention his Five Ways and his debt to Aristotle. • Distinguish between the three arguments he gives, giving a sentence or two to explain each one. • Make sure that you use the key terms. • Practice makes perfect – redraft the paragraph and time yourself for speed.

10. Make notes on this: Criticisms of Aquinas • His statement that all things have a cause of their existence or motion seems to be contradicted by the claim that God is uncaused. Why make an exception? • The argument may prove that the universe has a cause, but not that this is God. It certainly doesn’t prove God’s attributes! • Hume – there is no absurdity in suggesting that some events do not have a cause.

11. William Lane Craig • He has developed a modern form of the argument: • The universe had a beginning. • That beginning was caused. • That cause was probably personal (making the choice to create). • Therefore God exists.

12. Criticisms of Craig • The universe might be infinite (steady state theory, etc.). • The cause of the universe might not have involved any deliberate choice; it might have been entirely impersonal.

13. Evaluation See if you can come up with a list of strengths and weaknesses of the argument in your teams before you go any further….

14. Strengths of the Argument • a posteriori and inductive: it is based on ideas we can observe and verify – objects have causes, the universe began. • Most scientists would agree that the universe had a beginning (Big Bang). • It is natural to ask why the universe began, and science has not yet answered this. • Copleston – if all things have a cause, surely it makes sense for the universe to have a cause.

15. Criticisms/Weaknesses • Immanuel Kant – causality may be something imposed on experiences by the mind; it is not truly real. So, it can only apply to things we experience, which does not include the creation of the universe. • All the argument proves is a cause. It fails to prove the existence of God in traditional terms: loving, powerful, etc. • Russell: The universe is just here and that is all; we don’t need to ask why. It is “a brute fact”.

16. Next lesson, you are going to be looking at the Copleston vs Russell Debate! Bertrand Russell Frederick Copleston

17. Plan, in your teams the following essays: • Outline Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument (25) • b) ‘The Cosmological Argument cannot prove that God exists’Discuss (10) • Use the planning a part b essay sheet to help you.