- No proof of God’s existence.
- Lots of Inductive Leaps (Hume)
- No imperial evidence (Hume)
- Assumptions between cause and effect.
- The world may be infinite and doesn’t need to have a cause (Russell and Oscillating Universe Theory)
- Contradicting statements – Everything needs a cause, but God doesn’t need a cause.
What is the main objection to the cosmological argument?
One objection to the argument is that
it leaves open the question of why the First Cause is unique in that it does not require any causes
. Proponents argue that the First Cause is exempt from having a cause, while opponents argue that this is special pleading or otherwise untrue.
What are the criticisms of the cosmological argument?
Just because we can observe cause and effect in the universe does not mean that this rule applies to the universe itself
. This is often called the ‘fallacy of composition’ (what is true for the parts is not true for the whole).
What is Kant’s primary objection to the cosmological argument?
Many of the objections to the argument contend that
God is an inappropriate cause because of God’s nature
. … Kant contended that the cosmological argument, in identifying the necessary being, relies on the ontological argument, which in turn is suspect.
What are the strengths of the teleological argument?
The teleological argument
makes sense
. The universe shows design and purpose. It could not have all came about by chance. Everything has a purpose and is perfect for that purpose.
What are the 3 arguments for the existence of God?
There is certainly no shortage of arguments that purport to establish God’s existence, but ‘Arguments for the existence of God’ focuses on three of the most influential arguments:
the cosmological argument, the design argument, and the argument from religious experience.
Why is cosmological argument inductive?
The Cosmological Argument is inductive, so like all inductive arguments it is
based on probability
. It depends which you think is the most probable explanation for the universe: 1 A necessarily existent mind. 2 Necessarily existent matter.
Does the cosmological argument work?
So the cosmological argument is
neither a valid argument
in requiring the truth of its conclusion nor is it a satisfactory argument to prove the existence of any being that would have awareness of the existence of the universe or any event within it.
What is the difference between teleological and cosmological arguments?
While cosmological arguments argue
from the existence of the cosmos
, teleological arguments (also known as intelligent design arguments, or ID arguments) argue for Godâ€TMs existence from the design of the cosmos and biological life.
What is the cosmological argument simple?
In natural theology, a cosmological argument is
an argument in which the existence of a unique being
, generally seen as some kind of god or demiurge is deduced or inferred from facts or alleged facts concerning causation, change, motion, contingency, or finitude in respect of the universe as a whole or processes within …
What are the cosmological arguments for the existence of God?
A cosmological argument, in natural theology, is an argument which
claims that the existence of God can be inferred from facts concerning causation, explanation, change, motion, contingency, dependency, or finitude with respect to the universe or some totality of objects
.
What is the problem of infinite regress?
An infinite regress is a series of appropriately related elements with a first member but no last member, where each element leads to or generates the next in some sense. An infinite regress argument is
an argument that makes appeal to an infinite regress
.
Is the cosmological argument a priori or a posteriori?
17. The cosmological argument for the existence of God is an
a priori argument
because it is based on premises that can be known only by means of experience of the world. 18. Thomas Aquinas’ cosmological argument is an a posteriori argument because it relies on an appeal to experience to show that God exists.
What are the weaknesses of the design argument?
- Complexity does not necessarily mean design.
- Even if we accept that the world was designed, it cannot be assumed that its designer is God. …
- The theory of evolution, put forward by Charles Darwin, shows a way of understanding how species develop without reference to a designer God.
What is wrong with the teleological argument?
The character Philo, a religious sceptic, voices Hume’s criticisms of the argument. He argues that the design argument is built upon a faulty analogy as,
unlike with man-made objects, we have not witnessed the design of a universe, so do not know whether the universe was the result of design
.
What is Aquinas’s first cause argument?
The first cause argument is based
around cause and effect
. The idea is that everything that exists has something that caused it, there is nothing in our world that came from nothing. … Aquinas argued that this first cause must have no beginning – that is, nothing caused it to exist because the first cause is eternal.
