Cosmological Argument Summary

Anselm's cosmological argument
1. Ways 1 & 2: The arguments for an unmoved mover and uncaused causer
  1. Concerned with why there is any motion or causation
  2. Argues that there is a first mover which causes all that exists
  3. Argues that there is a first mover which causes all that exists
  4. God is the first efficient cause of the universe
  5. Infinite regression is rejected
  6. God is a pure act
  7. Copleston called this an 'ontologically ultimate cause'
2. Way 3: The argument from contingency
  1. Aquinas argues that God necessarily exists
  2. Criticisms of Way 3:
    1. Kant rejected Aquinas' Third Way for the same reason that he rejected the concept of necessary existence with respect to the ontological argument
    2. Mackie questioned the assumption that there is a necessary being & that God should be the necessary being
David Hume
1. Questioned idea that every effect has the same cause
2. One can't always claim/ assume that every effect has a necessary cause
3. The Fallacy of Composition
  1. Hume questioned whether its necessary for the whole universe to have a cause just because everything that is within the universe could be explained by reference to a preceding cause
  2. Bertrand Russell's example: the mother of the human race
Russell- Copleston debate
1. Copleston
  1. Presented reformulation of some of the ideas found in 3rd Way of Aquinas
  2. Argued the Universe can only be sufficiently explained by reference to God
  3. God is different from contingent beings as he is 'his own sufficient cause'
  4. Argued that explaining why there's a universe is important
2. Russell
  1. Rejected Copleston's arguments and suggested that the universe was not explainable in the way Copleston wanted
  2. Argued that whether an explanation for the universe as a whole is possible or not, the explanation is beyond the reach of human beings
  3. It's unnecessary for human's have a sufficient explanation of the universe that goes beyond the contingent universe
  4. Stated: "I should say that the universe is just there and that is all"

Next up

Cosmological Argument Summary

Description

Resource summary

Similar

	Created by Miranda Daniel over 8 years ago