Religious Studies (Inductive Cosmological Arguments)

Front 1

What are Aquinas's 3 ways?

Back 1

•The unmoved mover (That which all men call God) - Motion and Change

•Ultimate cause/ Un caused causer - Cause and Effect

•Contingency - Necessary being

Front 2

Explain Aquinas' argument briefly

Back 2

Aquinas builds his cosmological argument for the existence of god on the works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, often describing him as the "foundations" of his work. Much of this argument is posited in the Summa Theologica and explores the idea of God in an inductive nature. There are 3 main sections to Aquinas' argument; Motion + change, cause + effect and Contingency.

Front 3

Describe Aquinas's First way

Back 3

Aquinas' first way is often referred to as motion or change. Aquinas stated in this argument that when we observe the universe, we notice that things tend to be in a state of motion or change. From this observation Aquinas noted that things do not do this of their own accord, they are instead moved or changed by something else. Aquinas said that if we looked down the sequence of movements in the universe we would eventually come to something which started the sequence, but this 'something' could not be moved or changed itself. Aristotle had earlier explored this concept acknowledging this something to be the prime mover, Aquinas adapted this in calling it the 'unmoved mover.' and to him this was 'That which all men call god.'

Front 4

How did Aquinas illustrate this point further?

Back 4

To illustrate this point further, Aquinas builds on aristotles examples and explanations. Aristotle speaks of things moving from a state of potentiality towards a state of actuality. However both Aristotle and Aquinas noted that this change could only happen if something that already possessed a state of actuality acted on that which was in a state of potentiality, known as the efficient cause. Aristotle used the example of a block of marble (potential) becoming a statue (actual) but only when be acted upon by the sculptor (efficient cause). Aquinas uses the example of wood becoming hot in order to illustrate this point.

Front 5

Describe Aquinas' Second way

Back 5

•Aquinas' second way deals with the concept of cause and effect. Everything observable in nature is subject to this law, according to Aquinas, although the idea that this chain of cause and effect could be traced back infinitely is seen as impossible by him (Infinite regress). This then leads to the question; What was the first cause? For Aquinas the answer is god.

•Aquinas states here that not only is the idea of cause and effect simple, an undeniable law of the universe, but also that it is impossible for anything in the universe to cause itself.

Front 6

Use the Domino Analogy to describe the idea of cause and effect

Back 6

This idea can be explored through the domino analogy. The domino analogy is the idea of taking a line of dominoes. The first domino is the efficient cause, the one that causes the second (intermediate cause) one to fall, which in turn causes the third domino to fall. However, the third one would not have fallen had the first one not hit the second.

Front 7

Explain Aquinas' Third Way

Back 7

Aquinas Third and final way is named contingency. Aquinas again notes that everything that exists has the possibility of not existing (i.e. it is contingent) and draws the conclusion that if this was true of everything in existence then nothing would have ever come into existence. This is because in order for contingent beings to exist, there has to be a non-contingent (Necessary) being that brought everything else into to existence i.e. God

Front 8

What is the Kalam Argument?

Back 8

From the Arabic word to 'argue' or to 'discuss' the kalam cosmological argument can trace its origins back to Islamic scholars of the 9th and 11th centuries, however it has been modernised and championed by Christian apologist William Lane Craig.

Front 9

What are the points of Williams arguments? / What is his argument

Back 9

In 1993 Craig stipulated his argument thus:

1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause for its existence.

2. The universe began to exist

3. Therefore, the universe has a cause of its existence.

4. Since no scientific explanation, in terms of physical laws, can provide a casual account for the origin of the universe, the cause must be personal .

Front 10

How did Craig respond to challenges of infinity?

Back 10

In order to answer challenges to the idea that the universe may be considered infinite ( Contradicting his second point), Craig stated the following argument; (1) An actual infinite cannot exist, (2) A beginigless temporal series of events is an actual infinite, (3) Therefore, a beginingless temporal series of events cannot exist.

Front 11

Explain Craig's Analogy of infinity

Back 11

In order to explain this, an example of a library is often referred to; Imagine a library with an actually infinite number of books. suppose that the library also contains an infinite number of red and black books, so that for every red book there is a black book, and vice versa. It follows thus that the library contains as many red books as the total books in its collection, and as many red books as red and black books combined, but this is absurd. In reality the subset i.e. red and black books cannot be equivalent to the entire set. Hence actual infinities cannot exist in reality.

Front 12

What is a critique of this Analogy?

Back 12

Critics point out that this is ignoring the fact that there are 2 types of infinity recognised in standard mathematics - 'actual' and 'potential'. Craig responded by recognising that if an actual infinite was impossible, a potential infinite confirmed the fact that the universe had a beginning. This forms the second part of Craig's argument.

Front 13

What significant influence has William Lane Craig's Kalam argument had?

Back 13

In its simplest form the Kalam argument is straightforward and appealing - to such a degree that it has had significant influence in the rational theistic defence against atheistic arguments - especially in the fundamentalist Christian churches of America.

Front 14

Summarise the Kalam Argument

Back 14

The Kalam cosmological argument bases itself on the impossibility of the universe being infinite. Once this is agreed, then it is reasonable to ask 'how did it start?' Craig's version posits the requirement for a personal creator.