The Cosmological Argument

Simply stated, the cosmological argument basically runs as follows: 1.The universe exists. 2.What exists must have a cause or explanation for its existence. 3.The only adequate cause or explanation is that it was created by God. This kind of argument has a long history: Plato and Aristotle both argued that what moved required a mover. (the series must start with something for nothing can come from nothing [Aristotle]). This led to the concept of a Prime Mover. Aquinas also famously used the cosmological argument in three of his Five Ways (arguments for the existence of God). For Aquinas, what we see around us is the result of a series of previous causes. But there must be some first cause initiating the whole process, which is itself uncaused. This uncaused cause is God. There are a number of objections to this: 1)If the universe has to have a cause for its existence, does God? Have we not just swapped the existence of one entity we need to find a cause for (the universe) with a second (God)? 2)If God is in fact uncaused, it is possible for things that exist to do so without cause. This being the case, why must we try to find a cause for the existence of the universe? Could the universe itself not be uncaused? 3)Even if the universe has an uncaused cause, must it be God? 4)If the universe is infinitely old, could the series of causes go on backwards infinitely, with no first cause? One way of attempting to get around the problem identified in (1) above is to draw a distinction between the nature of God and the nature of the universe, such as to justify saying at one and the same time that (a) the universe must have a cause, BUT (b) the cause of the universe can be uncaused. For example, you might argue that the universe is contingent, but God is not. If something is contingent, it is possible that it might not have existed; it does not exist necessarily. You could then go on to argue that it only contingent existence that has to have a cause. Thus, we should seek a cause for the existence of the universe because it is contingent, but there is no problem with postulating an uncaused and non-contingent God.

Recent attempts to reclaim the cosmological argument

The Kalam cosmological argument The roots of the kalam cosmological argument lie with mediaeval Arabic thinkers; a contemporary exponent is the Christian philosopher William Lane Craig. 1

This argument also draws a distinction between the nature of God and the nature of the universe based on temporality and causality. On this argument, the universe has a beginning in time, and it is only entities with a beginning in time that must have a cause or explanation for existence. A central feature of the kalam cosmological argument is the argument that the universe is not actually infinite, and must therefore have a beginning in time. Since it has a beginning in time, something must have caused it to be. Why cant the universe be actually infinite? Actual infinity is a complete set and best understood as a mathematical abstraction; it already actually contains everything that can possibly be contained within it. It does not work with relation to empirical items such as rocks and stars; it leads to paradox. It is not possible to have a library with an infinite number of books, or a museum with an infinite number of paintings. Furthermore, if you can add more things to it by successive addition, it is not actually infinite. If I had more sand to a heap of sand, the pile continues to grow: it does not reach actual infinity. Since events in time form part of a series which is on-going, history, and the universe, are not infinite. Furthermore, you cannot cross an infinite distance. If you ran up an infinite flight of stairs you would never reach the top. History would never arrive at 2010 if the temporal distance to it was infinite. Therefore, if we looked backwards over time, it would not be infinite. Therefore history is finite, and had a beginning, and therefore a cause. Proponents of the kalam cosmological argument hold that the most likely candidate for this cause is a personal God.