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Criticisms of the
cosmological
argument
- Hume maintained that we have no
experience of universes being made
and it is simply not possible to argue
from causes within the universe to
causes of the universe as a whole.
There is a logical jump which the
argument fails to recognise. It is one
thing to talk about causes that operate
within the system of the universe, but it
is an entirely different matter to
speculate about whether the system as a
whole is caused.
- Immanuel Kant rejected the argument
outright not only because he maintained
that the idea of a ‘Necessary Being’ was
incoherent but also because our knowledge
is limited to the phenomenal world of space
and time and it is not possible to speculate
about what may or may not exist
independently of space and time.
- Hume thinks that the
way we make
assumptions about cause
and effect can be
mistaken. he argued that
there is a relationship
between cause and effect
because our minds have
developed a habit of
seeing causes and
automatically associating
effects with them.
- hume stated that as a matter of logic one cannot always
claim or assume that every effect has a cause. if this is true
then it undermines ways 1 and 2 of Aquinas' argument
which assumes there's a relationship between a cause and
effect.
- David Hume also questioned
whether it is necessary for the
whole universe to have a cause just
because everything that is within it
could be explained by reference to
a preceding cause. This is called
the Fallacy of Composition.
- given the controversy and
debates that surround the
cosmological argument it is
certainly the case that it
does not provide a
demonstration of God's
existence that is beyond
doubt. that having been
said, for many people the
cosmological argument
remains today an appealing
and credible argument.
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