Cosmological argument strengths and weaknesses. Strengths And Weaknesses: Teleological Argument 2019-01-12
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Strengths and weaknesses of the cosmological argument.
The argument does not establish any degree of probability at all when there are alternative explanations for the existence of the known universe. For example wood has that actuality of wood, but it also has the potentiality to become fire. The cause of the world is God — an identity claim. Things will grow and tend to become as they exist. He argues that, assuming that Aquinas is right in claiming there cannot be infinite regression, and assuming that the existence of everything contingent relies on the existence of some necessary thing, there is no proof that the initial cause of the universe is a necessary being.
Strengths and weaknesses of the cosmological argument Flashcards
The demands that the positive claim that there is a supernatural deity be established by reason and evidence and this argument does not meet that standard. The Cosmological Argument takes several forms but is basically represented below. Variations on the Cosmological Argument: The Kalam Cosmological Argument 1. Those who support the cosmological argument often say that God is an uncaused being; i. It is not set in motion by another entity. The efficient causes of a thing follow in order meaning that there was a first cause which caused a second cause and so on and so forth.
'The Cosmological argument serves as stronger proof for the existence of God compared with the teleological argument'
This is known as the fallacy of composition. This means that it depends on something else for its existence. Many may ask these questions: Why does the universe have to be caused? This assessment is to reaffirm my agreement with. The cosmological argument attempts to show that the universe is not a necessary being as it is contingent. The third of Aquinas' ways is the argument of contingency. Mackie in his The Miracle of Theism.
'The Cosmological argument serves as stronger proof for the existence of God compared with the teleological argument'
In which, people have the capacity to move and change without having any external force. If we add or take away existence from something, it does not change the definition. Uses the Black Swan argument to illustrate Hume's view. Supported by natural selection, the process of random genetic mutations excludes the need for a designer. For those who believe in the cosmological argument, the fact that people can see the clouds, feel the breeze, smell the flowers — basically gather information about the universe through their sense — is proof enough that the universe exists.
The universe is a prime example that there is a God. As a marine biologist might observe and catalog certain marine life in an attempt to gain insight into that specific thing's existence, so too did Aristotle observe the physical world around him in order to gain insight into his world. Evaluation Anselm's starting point was belief in God and thus it is not fair to criticise it as objective proof- for Anselm it was more of a meditation on his already existing faith than an attempt to prove God's existence to the atheist. Aquinas draws on this logic when putting forward his third way, meaning that it is a fairly satisfying argument. One is that if it is not possible for a person to conceive of an infinite process of causation, without a beginning, how is it possible for the same individual to conceive of a being that is infinite and without beginning? Evaluation There are more weaknesses than strengths to Aquinas' cosmological argument. It is an argument that uses analogy: it moves from our experience of things in the world to try to explain the cause of the world itself.
He stated that everything must have a cause, nothing is its own cause, and a chain of causes cannot be infinite and that there must be a first cause. Therefore, seeing as Aquinas rejects infinite regression, it means that this cannot continue throughout history. One is the Kalam argument: Like all cosmological arguments, the kalam cosmological argument is an argument from the existence of the world or universe to the existence of God. If we take the example of the plane and compare it to the universe and see how complicated they both are we can understand that, there must be a causer or director for the Universe, as again, it can not just be. Aristotle, much like a natural scientist, believed that we could learn about our world and the very essence of things within our world through observation. Even though this method of reasoning may be superior to the traditional Cosmological Argument, it is still not without its weaknesses.
Strengths and weaknesses of the Cosmological Argument. Flashcards
However, Makie uses the example of infinte regress where the series od hooks is one on top of the other with no limit. Wittgenstein's idea of Language Games- the argument makes sense within the religious community. Tennant: The Anthropic Principle Strong anthropic principle: the universe was designed explicitly for the purpose of supporting human life. The third argument says dependent beings means there are independent and necessary beings on whom the dependent has to rely on. A flaw in the cosmological argument is in giving special exclusive status to a deity that would need no creator or origin outside of itself- a necessary being--without acknowledging that such status could be given to the basic stuff, physis, of the universe, its energy, that can take different forms. Hume argued that both Thomas Aquinas and William Lane Craig contradict themselves by firstly denying the possibility of the infinite, but then claiming that there must have been an infinite being.
The something that exists is always changing. Even if objective moral law does exist, there are still no grounds for suggesting that God exists. He claims that things can be self-evident in two ways: in itself and both in itself and to us; even though something may exist self-evidently in itself, this self-evidence may not be known to us as humans and therefore, its existence would not be self-evident to us. To make things even more confusing, Aquinas argued that there are caused necessary beings i. The argument seems to say… 604 Words 3 Pages Outline the cosmological argument for the existence of God 21 marks The cosmological argument aims to prove the existence of God whilst also providing an explanation for the beginning of the universe, with different views coming from various scholars. The Cosmological Argument - Good Or Bad? This theory doesn't need the explanation of a design or even a creator of the universe and can support itself.
