The Cosmological argument

• What question does Leibniz pose regarding existence?

  “Why is there something rather than nothing?”
• What do cosmological arguments claim about God's existence?

  God's existence explains what exists.
• What type of reasoning do typical cosmological arguments use?

  A posteriori reasoning based on observations.
• How are cosmological arguments categorized?

  By causation and contingency.
• What does Aquinas mean by motion?

  Any kind of change.
• What is the first premise of Aquinas' first way from motion?

  We observe motion.
• What does P2 of Aquinas' first way state about motion?

  Motion is the actualization of potential.
• According to Aquinas, how can a thing come to be in motion?

  By being moved by something else.
• What conclusion does Aquinas reach about all things in motion?

  They must have been moved by something else.
• What does C2 of Aquinas' first way conclude?

  There must be a first mover, which is God.
• What is the focus of Aquinas' second way from atemporal causation?

  Efficient causation.
• What does P2 of Aquinas' second way state?

  Nothing can cause itself.
• What is the logical order of sustaining causes according to Aquinas?

  First cause, intermediate causes, ultimate effect.
• What does C1 of Aquinas' second way imply?

  There must be a first sustaining cause.
• What does C3 of Aquinas' second way conclude?

  The first cause must be uncaused.
• What type of causation does Aquinas employ in his arguments?

  Aristotelian efficient causation.
• What are the two types of efficient causation?

  Sustaining and temporal causation.
• What is temporal causation characterized by?

  A horizontal sequence of effects over time.
• How does temporal causation differ from sustaining causation?

  Temporal causation allows independent existence of effects.
• What is sustaining causation characterized by?

  A vertical hierarchy of continual effects.
• What does Aquinas' hand analogy illustrate?

  The dependency of secondary causes on the first cause.
• What does Aquinas mean by 'ontologically first'?

  All subsequent motion depends on it.
• What does Aquinas think about temporal series having no first cause?

  A temporal series can be infinite without a first cause.
• What does Edward Feser argue about sustaining series?

  A primary cause is required for causal power.
• What is impossible for Aquinas regarding causal power?

  An infinite regress of explanation for causal power.
• What does Feser say about circular or infinite chains of causes?

  They require something outside the series for causal efficacy.
• What does Copleston argue about the first member in a causal series?

  It must be a mover that is not moved.
• What does the Kalam cosmological argument focus on?

  The coming into being of the universe.
• Who popularized the Kalam cosmological argument?

  1. L. Craig.
• What does the first premise of the Kalam argument state?

  Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
• What does Craig argue about the universe's beginning?

  The universe began to exist; infinite regress is impossible.
• What does Craig argue about scientific explanations?

  They apply within the universe, not to its creation.
• What qualities must the cause of the universe have?

  It must be omnipotent and timeless.
• What does Craig argue about the impossibility of an infinite regress?

  Actual infinities cannot exist in reality.
• What example does Craig use to illustrate the absurdity of actual infinities?

  An infinite library with paradoxical sizes.
• What does Craig argue about traversing an infinite?

  We could never reach this moment.
• What evidence does Craig use against infinite regress?

  Evidence from modern cosmology and the big bang.
• What do critics argue against the cosmological argument?

  There could be an infinite regress without a first cause.
• What does Hume think about infinite regress?

  It cannot be ruled out a priori.
• What does Craig's library example illustrate?

  An actual infinite cannot exist in reality.