Cosmological Arguments are philosophical arguments that attempt to prove the existence of a First Cause or Prime Mover for the universe.
These arguments are based on the idea that nothing can come from nothing, and therefore there must be some force or entity that caused the universe to come into existence.
This First Cause is often identified with a deity or God in traditional theological contexts. Cosmological Arguments can take various forms, including the Kalam Cosmological Argument and Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument.
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Here are a few examples to help illustrate what a Cosmological Argument looks like
Example 1: Kalam Cosmological Argument
The Kalam Cosmological Argument has its roots in medieval Islamic philosophy and has been advanced by several Christian philosophers more recently. It was first proposed by Al-Ghazali. He was a prominent Muslim theologian, philosopher, and mystic who lived in the 11th century and exerted a significant influence on Islamic intellectual tradition.
More recently, the Christian Philosopher William Lane Craig put the Kalam Cosmological Argument like this:
- Everything that begins to exist has a cause
- The Universe began to exist
- Therefore, the Universe has a cause
Typically, the argument continues to state that the cause of the Universe must be outside of time, all-powerful, and personal (i.e. God)
Example 2: Aquinas' First Way
Aquinas proposed three Cosmological Arguments, but here we’ll just take a quick look at the first one. Aquinas set out his arguments for the existence of God in his book Summa Theologica.
St Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, theologian, and jurist. He is best known for his influential works in natural theology, metaphysics, and ethics, as well as his synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology.
The First Way is called the Argument from Motion, and can be summarised like this:
In the First Way, “motion” means changing from one state to another. For instance, an object that changes from hot to cold, or from being stationary to falling.
Aquinas claims that motion exists everywhere, and is always caused by something else in motion. For instance, something going from hot to cold is caused to be cold by something already cold (like putting water in a freezer). This means that there are chains of motion.
Thing causing thing causing thing. But the chain itself cannot fully explain the existence of motion, because we need an explanation of the existence of the chain in the first place. So, there must be a first mover, who is moved by no other thing. And this, Aquinas concludes, “is what we call God”.
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