If the past were infinitely long, an infinite amount of time would have had to pass before today. "Inflationary space-times are incomplete in past directions". (1) Only an entity can truly possess existence, come into being, begin to exist. If you are anything like me, and the vast majority of the country, you are now no doubt stuck at home for the foreseeable future while we ride out this pandemic. Therefore, it follows that the universe cannot be infinitely old and began to exist. This is why the argument is often expanded to show that at least some of these attributes are necessarily true, for instance in the modern Kalam argument given above. The mathematical impossibility of forming an actual infinite by successive addition. According to Craig, the kalam cosmological argument establishes that A) the God of Christianity exist B) the universe has a cause C) the Big Bang model is false D) the universe is uncaused B) the universe has a … A classic which has recently been re-polished and re-popularized, it has withstood the test of time in its field. Bonaventure.[10][11][12]. If you are also anything like me this has you thinking about philosophy, apologetics, and the Kalam Cosmological Argument. The basic cosmological argument merely establishes that a First Cause exists, not that it has the attributes of a theistic god, such as omniscience, omnipotence, and omnibenevolence. This premise seems intuitively obvious. [58], It has recently been argued that a defense of the Kalam cosmological argument does not have to involve such a commitment to the A-theory. The universe began to exist. Smith, Q (1988), "The Uncaused Beginning of the Universe," Philosophy of Science 55:39-57. Modern discourse encompasses the fields of both philosophy and science (quantum physics and cosmology), which Bruce Reichenbach summarises as: Craig defends the first premise as follows:[20][21], According to Reichenbach, "the Causal Principle has been the subject of extended criticism", which can be divided into philosophical and scientific criticisms.[22]. One such argument is the kalam cosmological argument. The claim of the first premise is “whatever begins to exist had a cause.” It’s often demonstrated by listing the causal principle “something cannot come from nothing,” or ex nihilo, nihilo fit. Today this argument, largely forgotten since the time of Kant, is once again back at center stage. A cosmological argument, in natural theology and natural philosophy (not cosmology), is an argument in which the existence of God is inferred from alleged facts concerning causation, explanation, change, motion, contingency, dependency, or finitude with respect to the universe or some totality of objects. Arguing About The Kalam Cosmological Argument. There are a handful of famous arguments for the existence of a god. Moreover, that Craig takes his argument too far beyond what his premises allow in deducing that the creating agent is greater than the universe. 3. What is the principle of sufficient reason? Hey guys, I'm an atheist and I've recently been looking more in-depth at some arguments for God's existence to challenge myself :) I was already familiar with the Kalam (popularized by William Lane Craig), but I hadn't read that much about it. [14] It reached medieval Christian philosophy in the 13th century and was discussed by Bonaventure, as well as Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica (I, q.2, a.3) and Summa Contra Gentiles (I, 13). paper is concerned with the Kalam Cosmological Argument, which aims to demonstrate that the universe was created ex nihilo by a personal creator. The Kalam cosmological argument fails as a proof of the existence of God. Scientific confirmation against a past-infinite universe in the form of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. ", "Initial Arguments: A Defense of the Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God", "Cosmological Argument: The Causal Principle and Quantum Physics", "Methuselah's Diary and the Finitude of the Past", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kalam_cosmological_argument&oldid=1000260756, Wikipedia articles that may have off-topic sections from September 2014, All articles that may have off-topic sections, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, If the universe has a cause, then an uncaused, personal Creator of the universe exists who, Therefore, an uncaused, personal Creator of the universe exists, who. If A Theory is correct, all past moments would have to occur before the present, which would vindicate the first premise. Averroes, Ibn Rushd, The Incoherence of the Incoherence (Tahafut al-Tahafut) London:Luzac, 1954, pp. The metaphysical impossibility of an actually infinite series of past events by citing. "The Caused Beginning of the Universe: a Response to Quentin Smith." [27][28] Craig notes: Morriston asserts that causal laws are physical processes for which we have intuitive knowledge in the context of events within time and space, but that such intuitions do not hold true for the beginning of time itself. The Kalam Cosmological Argument, which was developed from Moorish Spain, employs logical reasoning in asserting the existence of God. supernatural. Craig defends premise two using both physical arguments with evidence from cosmology and physics, and metaphysical arguments for the impossibility of actual infinities in reality. According to the kalam cosmological argument, it is because the universe is thought to have a beginning in time that its existence is thought to stand in need of explanation (Philosophy of Religion, 2018). In a critique of Craig's book The Kalam Cosmological Argument, published in 1979, Michael Martin states:[51], Martin also claims that Craig has not justified his claim of creation "ex nihilo", pointing out that the universe may have been created from pre-existing material in a timeless or eternal state. Is there a conclusive argument for the existence of God? One of the earliest formulations of the cosmological argument in Islamic tradition comes from Al-Ghazali, who writes: Between the 9th to 12th centuries, the cosmological argument developed as a concept within Islamic theology. The structure of the premises for this argument are: It is named after the kalam (medieval Islamic scholasticism) from which its key ideas originated. Scientific evidence that the universe began to exist a finite time ago at the Big Bang. He states: In reply, Craig has maintained that causal laws are unrestricted metaphysical truths that are "not contingent upon the properties, causal powers, and dispositions of the natural kinds of substances which happen to exist", remarking: A common objection to premise one appeals to the phenomenon of quantum indeterminacy, where, at the subatomic level, the causal principle appears to break down. God and the Folly of Faith: The Incompatibility of Science and Religion. [3], The most prominent form of the argument, as defended by William Lane Craig, states the Kalam cosmological argument as the following brief syllogism:[4], Given the conclusion, Craig appends a further premise and conclusion based upon a conceptual analysis of the properties of the cause of the universe:[5], Referring to the implications of Classical Theism that follow from this argument, Craig writes:[6]. According to the Kalam Cosmological Argument, everything that exists had a beginning, and everything that had a beginning had a cause. Craig formulates thekalām cosmological argument this way (in Craig and Smith1993: chap. Islamic perspectives may be divided into positive Aristotelian responses strongly supporting the argument, such as those by Al-Kindi, and Averroes, and negative responses critical of it, including those by Al-Ghazali and Muhammad Iqbal. ", Premise two: "The universe began to exist.". [56] Balashov claims:[57], Craig has criticised Balashov for adopting a verificationist methodology that fails to address the metaphysical and theological foundations of the A-theory. Physical Review Letters 90 (15): 151301. The Kalam cosmological argument is based on the concept of the prime-mover, introduced by Aristotle, and entered early Christian or Neoplatonist philosophy in Late Antiquity, being developed by John Philoponus. Philosopher Michael Martin has also referred to quantum vacuum fluctuation models to support the idea of a universe with uncaused beginnings. One thought on “ How to Debunk The Kalam Cosmological Argument ” Jonathan MS Pearce. It’s details the many criticisms of the argument, all in one place: Prometheus Books, 2012. The word “ kalam ” is an Arabic word that denotes medieval Islamic theology. 2. 2. Whatever begins to exist has a cause. Philosophical foundations for a Christian worldview. In case you’re interested, I have a new book out debunking the KCA. The main content of this argument is depended on the feature of temporality of the universe and existents. The Kalam Cosmological Argument leads us to the conclusion that the universe does, indeed, have a cause. The latter would allow the universe to exist tenselessly as a four-dimensional space-time block, under which circumstances the universe would not "begin to exist":[54] The form of the Kalam he presents rests on this theory: Craig has defended the A-theory against objections from J. M. E. McTaggart and hybrid A–B theorists. If you aren’t familiar with the KCA, here is a version of it: Everything that begins to exist has a transcendent cause of its existence. According to Craig, the Kalam Cosmological Argument is constructed as follows: Whatever begins to exist, has a cause of its existence. "[45], At the "State of the Universe" conference at Cambridge University in January 2012, Vilenkin discussed problems with various theories that would claim to avoid the need for a cosmological beginning, alleging the untenability of eternal inflation, cyclic and cosmic egg models, eventually concluding: "All the evidence we have says that the universe had a beginning. 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