cosmological argument

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sal vulcano

Cards (6)

  • The basis of this argument is that everything existing in the universe was brought into existence by something else; that very something was itself caused by something else. But, it is necessary for something to have started this all off - something which did not and was not brought into existence by a superior motive. That 'something' is God.
  • It was put forward by St Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, and was formed based on 3 of his '5 Ways' (Summa Theologica) them being; motion, cause and contingency.
  • They suggest that everything in existence is moving/ contingent and these things need something to move/ create them. However, since the idea of an infinite regress is disregarded- a chain of movement/ contingency can't go back forever, there must be an unmoved mover/ uncreated being that created the Universe which the Cosmological argument dictates is God.
  • STRENGTH
    The idea that God created the universe fits with the qualities that God holds. For something to create the universe, it must exist beyond the universe and be non-physical, and spiritual. Along with this, the creator of the universe must also not be bound by time, eternal and must be self-contained, necessary. All of these are qualities possessed by the monotheistic idea of God.
  • STRENGTH 1 ANALYSIS
    This strength can be seen as irrelevant as the argument aims to prove whether God exists, not God's nature and we shouldn't be able to explain the qualities of something that hasn't yet been proven. As well, there may be other beings which possess these same qualities such as the Devil or a team of Gods- it may not be the God of classical theism that is implied that created the Universe.
  • WEAKNESS
    David Hume argued the idea that causation may not be real. He said that there is no evidence of a link between cause and effect but instead, causation is a psychological link made by humans to try and make sense of what is happening in the world around us. This leads to the question of how else we are meant to view the world if we have to disregard what we observe.