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Description
Flashcards by Malachy Moran-Tun, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Malachy Moran-Tun
almost 2 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| Briefly, what is the Cosmological Argument? | > Umbrella term for a series of arguments about the cause of the Universe > Greek word - "Cosmos" - meaning world / Universe > Inductive and a posteriori argument > Argues for the existence of God outside of the Universe, and an explanation for the Universe itself |
| What are the 2 Versions of the Cosmological Argument and their Key Thinkers / Documents? | > Kalam Argument - 850CE - Developed by William Lane Craig - 20th CEntury > Aquinas' (1225 - 1274 / 13th Century) Cosmological Argument - 3 ways in Summa Theologicæ (1266 - 1273) |
| What are the Names of Aquinas' 3 Ways? | 1. Motion and Change 2. Cause and Effect 3. Contingency and Necessity |
| What is Aquinas' First Way (Motion and Change)? | > Everything that moves is moved by something else > Nothing can move itself, since nothing can be both the mover and the movee (hehe movie), but things are evidently in motion > This chain cannot go on forever (reject infinite regress), since an infinite chain would have no beginning or end > Therefore, there must be a first mover to begin the change > This initial cause is God |
| What Analogy did Aquinas Give for the First Way (Motion and Cause)? | > Fire - actually hot > Wood - potentially hot > Fire changes wood from potentially hot to actually hot > Neither can be both potentially and actually hot, so nothing can change itself |
| Which Analogy, not by Aquinas, Supports Aquinas' First Way (Motion and Cause)? | > Aristotle - marble and sculptor > Marble is potentially a statue > A sculptor turns the marble into actually a statue |
| Define the Following Terms Relating to Aquinas' First Way (Motion and Change): > Potentiality > Actuality > Efficient cause | > Potentiality - any possibility that a thing is said to be able to become > Actuality - the change that represents the fulfilment of the potential > Efficient cause - the third party that moves potentiality to actuality |
| What is Infinite Regress and its Relation to Aquinas' First Way (Motion and Change)? | > Infinite regress - the basis that time goes back indefinitely without a finite beginning > Rejected by Aquinas - there must be a beginning point / third party or else nothing would ever change (which is evidently not the case) |
| What is Aquinas' Second Way (Cause and Effect)? | > Everything has a cause, and things cannot cause themselves > There cannot be an infinite number of causes, as with an infinite chain, there would be no first cause > There must be a first cause on which all other things depend > This very first, initial cause must be God |
| Define the Following Terms Relating to Aquinas' Second Way (Cause and Effect): > Efficient cause > Intermediate cause Ultimate cause | > Efficient cause - the initial cause which causes the intermediate cause > Intermediate cause - caused by the efficient cause, causes the ultimate cause > Ultimate cause, final cause, caused by the intermediate These causes cannot go on ad infinitum as then it would be impossible to distinguish between efficient, intermediate, and ultimate. |
| What is Aquinas' Third Way (Contingency and Necessity)? | > Things comes into existence and also cease exist > This things are dependent on factors beyond themselves > Therefore, at one time, none of these things existed > But, things evidently exist, so they must have come into existence via another being > God is a necessary being on which all things depend on existing |
| Define the Following Terms Relating to Aquinas' Third Way (Contingency and Necessity): > Contingent > Necessity (no way!) | > Contingent - anything that is dependant on something else - it can exist and also cease to exist > Necessary - a being that is not dependant on anything else to exist - the source of all contingent things |
| What is the Kalam Cosmological Argument? | > "Kalam" - Arabic, meaning to "argue" or "discuss" > Al-Kindi (801- 873 CE) and Al-Ghazali (1058 - 1111 CE) > Whatever comes into being must have a cause > The Universe came into being (supports modern ideas of the Big Bang) > The Universe must have a cause > This cause is God |
| What is William Lane Craig's Development of the Kalam Cosmological Argument? | > William Lane Craig (1949 - Present) > 1993 - put forward updated Kalam argument > Everything that begins to exist has a cause to its existence > The Universe BEGAN to exist (i.e., is not infinite) > Therefore, Universe has a cause of its existence |
| What Analogy does Lane Craig Give Against Actual Infinity? | > Imagine a library has an infinite number of red books > Imagine an additional library of infinite black books (big up Aquinas colours) > Putting both libraries together gives an infinite number of books - surely there's still more than infinite > Infinity cannot exist in reality, only as a concept |
| What is the Difference between Potential Infinite and Actual Infinite? | > Potential infinite - always possible to add additional things / events ad infinitum (e.g., the future is potentially infinite, as more events can happen) > Actual infinite - a set of things with an infinite number of members - impossible since removing or adding more members still results in an actual infinite (therefore the Universe cannot be actually infinite) |
| Why does Lane Craig Argue for a Personal God? | > Universe has began to exist > Must be caused by either random chance / nature, or by the deliberate action of a personal agent > Cannot be by nature because it did not exist before the Universe did (i.e., is not transcendent) > Therefore, God (a transcendent being) must have caused the Universe to begin existing |
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