Cosmological Argument Essay RSS03

by trei150outlookcom (student)

AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

The Cosmological Argument Essay

The Cosmological Argument is an argument supporting the existence of God which claims that all animate beings are contingent, meaning they depend on something else for their existence. The argument also states that the entire cosmos therefore must depend on a being that exists independently. The Cosmological argument is a posteriori argument. This means the argument is derived by reasoning from previously observed facts and the opposite of a priori argument which is derived by the use of logic. The Cosmological argument simply breaks down into three claims: that the cosmos/universe exits, that the existence of the cosmos has a cause, and that the cause is God.

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St Thomas Aquinas (1224 – 1274) was a Catholic Priest and one of the most important medieval philosophers and author of many books – his most famous being the Summa Theologica. In his Summa Theologica Aquinas explained five proofs for the existence of God, the first three of which include; Motion, Cause and Contingency.

The first way is the argument from Motion. After studying the work from Greek philosopher Aristotle, Aquinas concluded that an object that is in motion (moves) is put in motion by another object or force. Ultimately, Aquinas believes that there must have been an Unmoved Mover (God) who puts things into motion. The argument from Motion follows the premise that: nothing can move itself, if every object that moves has a mover then the first object in motion needs a mover, Movement can go on for infinity and that the first mover is the Unmoved Mover, called God. In his Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas explains Motion to be “...nothing else than the reduction of something from the potentiality to actuality.”

The second way is Causation from existence (cause). Causation presents the issue of existence itself – Aquinas used common sense observations to conclude that no object creates itself; therefore something must have created it. He believed there must have been an Uncaused First Cause who is Immutable (unchangeable) and who began the chain of existence for everything. The argument from Causation follows the premise that: Things exist that are caused (created) by other things, nothing can cause itself, and there cannot be a string of objects creating other objects which creates further objects etc. and that there must be an uncaused causer called God. Thomas Aquinas explains causation in his Summa Theologica by saying “There is no known cause in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause itself, which is impossible.”

The third way is Contingency. A contingent being must depend on something else to be sustained. St. Thomas Aquinas suggests that a contingent being must depend on a necessary being for its creation – God. The argument from Contingency follows the premise that: contingent beings are caused and not every being can be contingent, therefore there must exist a being which is necessary to cause contingent beings and that the necessary being is God. An example of a contingent being is a human: Humans are caused by their parents but depend on food, water and air, for example, for existence.