Cosmological Argument (Observation)
Cosmological argument:
• Seeks an explanation for the universe - a First Cause.
• A posteriori
• Addresses the question later posed by Leibniz: “Why is there something
rather than nothing?”
5 common arguments for God:
• Ontological - a priori
• Cosmological - a posteriori
• Teleological - a posteriori
• Moral - a posteriori
• Religious experience - a posteriori
Aristotle’s Cosmological Argument:
• Aristotle believed that all movement (or change) must depend on
something moving it.
• However if A is moving it must have been acted upon by B, and that by C
• In ‘Metaphysics’ Aristotle rejected this infinite series of cause and effect as
illogical “Nothing comes from nothing”.
• Therefore, the matter in the universe is eternal and there must be
something which eternally causes change but is itself Unchanged - this is
the Prime Mover.
Who made the Prime Mover?
• No one, because He is Unmoved.
• There is something which is unchanging and timeless (influence of
Parmenides)
The Prime Mover is the cause:
• Does NOT cause all things to come into existence from nothing (unlike
christian God)
• He is “That from which change comes.” eg the Cause of Change but
not the Cause of existence itself (which is the Christian view)
• Existence itself is eternal.
God The Final Cause:
• Not the efficient cause but the FINAL cause.
• He is the object of love and desire. The goal and purpose of the
universe.
• God is perfection, so everything wants to imitate this perfection and is
drawn to it.
• The telos of the universe is to be like God.
, Aristotle’s (prime mover’s) Influence on Christian Thought:
• God as eternal, timeless, simple
• God as unchanging - cannot suffer
• The universe existing for a reason
• God as the cause of the universe = cosmological argument
• The universe designed for a purpose = teleological argument
Different forms of cosmological argument:
• Aristotle
• Aquinas
• Copleston
• ‘Kalam’ Argument (Craig) *******
Thomas Aquinas (1223-1274):
• The ‘Angelic’ Doctor, Christian Theologian
• Combined reason and revelation. Reason can only take us so far, we
need revelation
• Introduced Aristotle’s ideas into the church. He called Aristotle “The
Philosopher”
Thomas Aquinas’ 5 Ways of Proving God:
1. Motion - Prime Mover
2. Causation - First Cause
3. Contingency - Necessary Being
4. Degrees of value - Absolute value
5. Evidence of purpose in nature - Divine Designer
Are these ways meant to prove God?
• The Five Ways follow a section where he argued that God is not self-
evident and he rejected the Ontological Argument.
• This is because we cannot know God perfectly in this life, only
indirectly through what he has made. We do not know His ‘definition’.
• Aquinas calls these ‘demonstrations’, rather than proofs. It could be
argued that they are valid given certain starting assumptions.
Aquinas Against FIDEISM
• Fideism = belief that knowledge depends on faith or revelation
• Aquinas was NOT a Fideist. He claims God can be ‘demonstrated’
• Vatican I’s Dogmatic Constitution, Dei Filius (1869-1870), agrees - it
affirms that the assent (expression of approval) of faith is reasonable, such
that this “assent is not a blind movement of the intellect”
Qualities of Aquinas’ Cosmological Arguments:
• A posteriori
• Start with experience
Cosmological argument:
• Seeks an explanation for the universe - a First Cause.
• A posteriori
• Addresses the question later posed by Leibniz: “Why is there something
rather than nothing?”
5 common arguments for God:
• Ontological - a priori
• Cosmological - a posteriori
• Teleological - a posteriori
• Moral - a posteriori
• Religious experience - a posteriori
Aristotle’s Cosmological Argument:
• Aristotle believed that all movement (or change) must depend on
something moving it.
• However if A is moving it must have been acted upon by B, and that by C
• In ‘Metaphysics’ Aristotle rejected this infinite series of cause and effect as
illogical “Nothing comes from nothing”.
• Therefore, the matter in the universe is eternal and there must be
something which eternally causes change but is itself Unchanged - this is
the Prime Mover.
Who made the Prime Mover?
• No one, because He is Unmoved.
• There is something which is unchanging and timeless (influence of
Parmenides)
The Prime Mover is the cause:
• Does NOT cause all things to come into existence from nothing (unlike
christian God)
• He is “That from which change comes.” eg the Cause of Change but
not the Cause of existence itself (which is the Christian view)
• Existence itself is eternal.
God The Final Cause:
• Not the efficient cause but the FINAL cause.
• He is the object of love and desire. The goal and purpose of the
universe.
• God is perfection, so everything wants to imitate this perfection and is
drawn to it.
• The telos of the universe is to be like God.
, Aristotle’s (prime mover’s) Influence on Christian Thought:
• God as eternal, timeless, simple
• God as unchanging - cannot suffer
• The universe existing for a reason
• God as the cause of the universe = cosmological argument
• The universe designed for a purpose = teleological argument
Different forms of cosmological argument:
• Aristotle
• Aquinas
• Copleston
• ‘Kalam’ Argument (Craig) *******
Thomas Aquinas (1223-1274):
• The ‘Angelic’ Doctor, Christian Theologian
• Combined reason and revelation. Reason can only take us so far, we
need revelation
• Introduced Aristotle’s ideas into the church. He called Aristotle “The
Philosopher”
Thomas Aquinas’ 5 Ways of Proving God:
1. Motion - Prime Mover
2. Causation - First Cause
3. Contingency - Necessary Being
4. Degrees of value - Absolute value
5. Evidence of purpose in nature - Divine Designer
Are these ways meant to prove God?
• The Five Ways follow a section where he argued that God is not self-
evident and he rejected the Ontological Argument.
• This is because we cannot know God perfectly in this life, only
indirectly through what he has made. We do not know His ‘definition’.
• Aquinas calls these ‘demonstrations’, rather than proofs. It could be
argued that they are valid given certain starting assumptions.
Aquinas Against FIDEISM
• Fideism = belief that knowledge depends on faith or revelation
• Aquinas was NOT a Fideist. He claims God can be ‘demonstrated’
• Vatican I’s Dogmatic Constitution, Dei Filius (1869-1870), agrees - it
affirms that the assent (expression of approval) of faith is reasonable, such
that this “assent is not a blind movement of the intellect”
Qualities of Aquinas’ Cosmological Arguments:
• A posteriori
• Start with experience
