How Convincing Is The Cosmological Argument

 

Alastair Stewart

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How convincing is the Cosmological Argument?

The Cosmological Argument is an a posteriori argument which deals with metaphysics, the area of philosophy that looks at the nature of reality; going from the observed world to an eternal creator responsible for all existence. The argument has a long history, going  back to the great classical philosophers of  Pla Plato, to, Aristot Aristotle, le, Leibni Leibnitz, tz, Spinoz Spinoza, a, Kant, Kant, Hegel, Heg el, Locke Locke and Berkeley who all believed that the Universe was the result of a transcendent reality called ‘God’. Although these philosophers may have had different ideas about ‘God’, they all agreed that the Universe was not self-expl self-explanator anatory, y, and must have had a sole cause in order for it to have come into existence. Although there are various forms of the cosmological argument, each version does focus on key fundamental questions: Why did the Universe begin? Why was the Universe created? Who or what created the Universe? The case for the Cosmological A Argument rgument is best put for forward ward by St. Thomas Aquinas in his book  Summa Theologicae which contained his ‘Five Ways’ or  ‘Five Proofs’. The first proof, ‘Motion’, states that some things in the Universe are in motion, and some things are at rest. Those things that are in motion have had their potentiality actualised by something that is in a state of actuality. This is not dissimilar to a game of   pool, where all balls on the table are stationary until one is moved and hits another. Aquinas believed that ‘God’ was the ‘first mover’ that started motion in the Universe. Aquinas’ second proof, ‘Cause’ argues that the Universe must have a ‘first cause’ that is ‘uncaused’ – it would not caused be caused by anything else. Aquinas makes the point that the chain of cause and effect must have a first cause, otherwise it would regress infinitely – something Aquinas could not believe. The argument attempts to demonstrate the existence of God through the very existence of our own world, and that everything in our experience from it has taught us that nothing causes itself; there are several causes. For For so some meth thin ing g to ha have ve ca caus used ed itse itself lf it woul would d have have ha had d to ex exis istt in th thee fi firs rstt pl plac ace, e, something again that Aquinas found impossible, saying ‘nothing can be the cause of  itself so there must be a prior cause’ . If one takes a coffee mug for example, we can say that it is the sum of many different causes: the materials that it is made from, and the  people who made it and so forth. From our experience we therefore know that something cannot come from nothing, Aquinas says regarding this “there is no case known (nor is it possible) in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself” . He argues that this is true of the Universe also, believing that the ‘first cause’ must be a being that necessarily exists; which “all men speak of as God” as Aquinas put it. The third proof that Aquinas put forward in his Summa Theologicae is ‘ Contingency’. Because everything is contingent, and comes into existence and can go out of existence (through human experience we know this) Aquinas believed that there must have been a time when the Universe did not exist. He concluded that it could only be a transcendent reality/being that brought the Universe into existence. This other reality/being would have a necessary existence; otherwise there would be nothing at all in order to create the Universe. The philosopher Leibniz supports Aquinas and his argument that there must be a necessary reality/being, saying “We assume that things in the world happen for a

 

Alastair Stewart

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How convincing is the Cosmological Argument? reason, why can’t we assume this about this about the world as a whole?” Here, Le Leib ibni nizz is sayi saying ng that that if we broa broaden den the the persp perspec ecti tive ve of our under underst stand andin ing g fr from om experience, we can apply it to the Universe, thus finding a way to comprehend what otherwise may seem incomprehensible. This supports Thomas Aquinas by using logic gained from human experience.

Contrary to the logical outline of Thomas Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument, there have  been various criticisms made made against it. One such criticism criticism is the idea of infinite regress that Aquinas is avidly against. Although he says there must be a first cause, it is entirely  possible there was no such cause, but rather an eternal transcendent being. If we assume for a moment that infinite regress exists, then in that amount of ‘time’ anything could happen if it was repeated long enough. For example, if someone was trying to roll a dice to get a six one million times in a row, however unlikely that maybe to comprehend now, if an infinite amount of time was had, it would happen. If the Universe was therefore infinite, it would surely have been destroyed many times, and succumb to ‘the big crunch’. If this occurred, and we are here now, the only explanation for this would be a transcendent and necessary fixed factor that is present eternally to ‘reset’ if you will, the Univer Uni verse se when when it is destro destroyed yed with with an establ establish ished ed set of pre-con pre-condit dition ions. s. Althoug Although h Aquinas’ first cause argument is logical, there is no reason why the Universe can’t be infinite, with ‘God’ being the necessary marker that sets-up the ‘original’ set of preconditions. Aquinas is detracting from a possible argument for the existence of God by refusing to concede to even the possibility of infinite regression. David Hume provides an in-depth attack on Aquinas’ argument. Hume’s first point is that if ‘God’s’ existence as a necessary being can be considered, then there is surely no logical reason why the non-existence of such a being cannot be considered also. It is  possible, for instance, that the first cause now ceases to exist, but did once exist when it created creat ed the Universe. Universe. Hume also asks asks why we cannot think think of this material material world as necessarily independent, and then it would be the cause of is own existence. Hume argued that the seemingly random proclamation by Aquinas that ‘God’ is the cause of the Universe is a way for Aquinas to go from the existence of the Universe to the reason the Universe exists, which according to Hume does not necessarily follow, as you are going from logical cause to logical reason, which is a way to provide a ‘God’ for religion. Hume also asked why there must be a beginning for the Universe, as it is entirely  possible that infinite regress is possible, and if this is so it would be impossible for it to have had a first cause. The issue of experience experience is also a cause for concern with Hum Hume. e. Because we have no experiences of Universe being made, and the cosmological argument is a poster posterior iorii argume argument, nt, then then nothin nothing g can be correc correctt for what actual actually ly caused caused the Universe. Although we may know what causes things in the Universe that does not give us the knowledge to know what caused the Universe. Furthermore, Hume believed that “there is no necessary connection between cause and effect” meaning that when we look at one thing and believe that we are seeing it is causing an effect on another, what we are really seeing is one thing happening very close to another, thus creating the image of effect. In relating to the world, Hume believed that even if it did have a cause for   being, then it would be quite impossible to see what it was, as we could not get out of the

 

Alastair Stewart

3

How convincing is the Cosmological Argument?

Universe to see what caused the world and Universe when nothing was there before it. Therefore if knowledge comes from experience, then the experiences we have are not adequatee enough for us to know if God created adequat created the Universe or if he did not. In fact, the idea that we perceive cause and effect may be a psychological interpretation as we humans believe that cause ultimately leads to effect. Hume’s views are also supported by Bertrand Russell, who argued that just because we see individual things as having a cause, does not mean that the whole world, or indeed the Universe need have a cause also. Bertrand Russell is best known for saying that although every human being has a mother, this does not mean that the whole human race must also have a mother. Russell commented in his book Why book Why I Am Not a Christian Ch ristian that he believed that the Universe was just a “brute fact” that was “ just there, and that’s all there is to say about it.” Although the Universe is ‘there’ it does not mean it has a beginning, although it may mean it may have h ave a final cause resulting in the en end. d. Kant, also objects to the Cosmological Argument put forth by Thomas Aquinas. Kant says that the idea of cause and effect is only true in this world due to our sense experience, experi ence, but the concept of ‘God’ could very well be free of cause and effect, effect, and be different. The idea that we can apply our reasoning that we have learnt from this world to ‘God’ is impractical, as God may be entirely different. Kant asserted that it would be impossible to go from physical world reasoning to a metaphysical conclusion. Modern scientists say that Aquinas’ argument rests on the an assumption no longer held  – that is, everything must have a cause. They argue now, for example, that sub-atomic  particles can come into existence without a cause. Scientists today do not believe that it is a ‘law’ that everything must have a cause, especially at the subatomic level in modern quantum physics. This is particularly damaging to Aquinas’ argument because one of the conditions is that everything in the Universe has a cause, and this leads back to the original origi nal or first cause. cause. Stephen Stephen Hawking also comments, comments, saying saying that ‘if the Universe was completely self contained it could neither be created nor destroyed” which can   be interpreted as saying that there need not necessarily be an outside cause for the creating of the Universe, or indeed a beginning.   Although it can be argued that Aquinas’s reasons for the Cosmological Argument are to reinforce the faith in a justifiable way, as he himself was a Roman Catholic monk in the 13th century, others choose to defy his critics and claim that his teachings have been misinterpreted. Frederick Broderick argues that there are two two different ways of viewing ‘God’. The Temporal Temporal First First Cause (Cause (Cause in Fieri) argument argument can be explained explained in the analogy of a parent and child; with the parent giving birth to the child and then leaving the child to live later on. In relation to the Universe, this would be God creating the Universe, and then leaving it alone. However, Broderick believes that what Aquinas meant when he was speaking of ‘God'; was the Ontologically Ultimate Cause (Cause in Esse). The analogy for this is friction causes heat, meaning that the first cause that was started (i.e. the heat by the friction) must be maintained in order for the heat to continue

 

Alastair Stewart

4

How convincing is the Cosmological Argument?

(i.e. the Universe to continue). This is an effective argument, and brings possible new interpretation to Aquinas’ arguments. This continuous questioning and pondering is part of human nature; as conscious beings we cannot accept that the Universe may be a reality in itself, instead we believe that there must be some external intelligent creator, responsible for what we perceive as the ordered regular structure of things. Aquinas’ argument is product of this human belief that we are the subject of design, in a series of causes and effects that can be traced back to one definite cause which is itself, uncaused. The argument put forth by Aquinas is logical and understandable, but it is in the realms of human logic and experience in which it is trapped, and its ultimate flaw is that it fails to look at what could be beyond human experience, something that we cannot ourselves image but rather speculate over, as we will never know what was there before the Universe. Hume’s criticisms consider these  possibilities, making sense logically, as they, like the cosmological argument are logical with wit h a sound sound premi premise se in which which follow followss sound sound reason reason.. Kant, Kant, simil similarl arly, y, outlin outlines es the limi li mita tati tion onss of hu huma man n ex expe peri rienc ence, e, an and d ho how w that that it woul would d be fa fals lsee to pr procl oclai aim m th thee cosmological argument as the sound reasoning by which to prove the existence of God, as there is no way of proving, or indeed disproving such an existence of such a being. Furthermore, the advances made in recent years in modern science in showing that an effect does not necessarily need to follow on from a cause, shown by advances in quantum physics whereby particles seem to come into existence with no explanation, is  particularly damaging to Aquinas’ argument of everything cause is followed by an effect. Aquinas’ arguments, although impeccably logical, are brought into question as human advances are made, and clichés aside, further exploration of the Earth, and indeed the Universe Univer se at new levels (quantum physics for example) will ultimatel ultimately y prove that as our  scope of understanding broadens, not everything need have a cause and effect, or indeed lead back to a sole cause (God) responsible for everything we see around us. Aquinas’ logi logicc is soun sound, d, an and d the the ar argu gume ment nt be beli liev evab able le,, but but it is th thee ex expa pans nsio ion n of hu huma man n understanding that will eventually disprove that logic as we encounter the unbelievable, thus his convincing argument will deteriorate over time.