Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Cosmological Argument
- A posteriori
- knowledge gained 'after experience'
- in this case, experience of the universe & world
- 3 premises
- Everything that exists has a cause
- The universe exists, so must have a cause
- That cause is God
- Aquinas
- Ways to prove God
- 1. Change/motion: Things do not change without a cause
- It is necessary to arrive at a first mover affected by no other: God
- 2. Cause: There must be a chain of causes, the first being God
- It is necessary to admit a first efficient cause: God
- 3.Contingency: A future event that is not
certain, dependent on something else
- Everything is contingent, there must have
been something that is non-contingent
- A necessary being
- Infinite regress: an infinite number of events in the past
- rejected: said there must be a first event
- Aristotle
- Potentiality & Actuality
- Aristotle was interested in the move from
potentiality to actuality: Everything actualised
has 4 causes
- 4. final
- The aim for which something is created
- The prime mover only has a Final Cause???
- 3. efficient
- The way in which something is created
- 2. formal
- The expression, idea or plan that lead to the creation of something
- 1.material
- Everything has a material from which it was made
- Actuality: When potential is achieved
- Potentiality: the possibility of doing/becoming something
- There must be a mover as all movement depends on a mover
- Prime Mover
- Immune to change, decay, death
- independent of a mover (unmoved mover)
- Observe the world: we see movement & growth
- Russell
- supported infinite regress, rejected necessary being & contingency
- The Brute Fact: The universe just IS.
- We can't understand/explain the universe fully
- Therefore shouldn't ask questions about it
- Because the answer would be meaningless
(wouldn't understand it)
- Fallacy of Composition
- Falsely ascribing the properties of the parts of a whole to the whole
- eg: things in the universe were
created so the universe was also
created.
- The Roles of God
- an explanation (the fact that there is
something rather than nothing needs
an explanation)
- The sustainer of motion, causation & existence
- cause in esse
- God as the temporal first cause (at the beginning of time)
- Cause in esse: brings things into existence, must be involved for continuation
- Cause in fieri: brings things into existence but no longer involved
- Scientific Theories
- Anthony Kenny
- Animals move themselves
- Newtons 1st Law of Motion
- A body's velocity will remain unchanged unless a force acts upon it
- friction, gravity
- without gravity we would be in constant motion
- Things stop us moving as apposed to starting movement
- steady state theory
- energy can't be created: universe will always weigh & look the same, is eternal
- Big Bang Theory (rejection of steady state)
- Was there a cause for it though?
- Could be spontaneous
- Kalam Cosmological Argument
- Whatever begins to exist
has a cause, the universe
began to exist
- Universe can't be infinite if
running out of usable energy
- A universe that is expanding must
have a starting point
- spaceless, timeless, uncaused, immaterial, powerful
- EXTRAS
- Kant: NO because we don't know
cause & effect are related (illusion)
- circular logic: if God is first cause, what caused God?
- Doesn't point to the classical theist God