Born in 1949, the Christian philosopher and theologian, William Craig is most known for his defense of the Kalam cosmological argument. The Kalam cosmological argument is rooted in Islamic theologians of the Ilm al-Kalam tradition. The Ilm al-Kalam also known as Islamic natural theology attempts to justify the belief in God by constructing arguments for God’s existence. The main specificity of the Kalam is that it relies on the premise that the universe began to exist. Craig’s main argument is against the possibility of existence of actual infinities he believes there is always a cause of existence. Craig defends the Kalam by using two arguments. Argument one is as follows: Whatever begins to exist has a cause of existence; the universe began to exist; therefore: the universe has a cause. Argument two addresses the cause of existence more specifically and is as follows: Whatever begins to exist has a cause, the universe has a cause; if the universe has a cause, then an uncaused, personal creator of the universe exists. The whole universe is caused …show more content…
Everyone has different opinions on politics, religion, science, and almost everything else, so people will also have opinions about the world and universe, which has been created 14 billion years ago. I am on this planet now and worry about the present. The past I cannot change, and the future I cannot predict. The discussion of what caused the existence of the universe is an interesting topic, but does not affect me now, and does not change who I am or my existence. Yes, everything has a cause of existence, but I do not believe it is necessary for me to know every cause of existence. While Craig’s argument is strong and convincing, I cannot say for sure if his argument is true, and would not panic if his argument is proved wrong. The world still exists, and we exist on
Additionally, the ancient Parmenidean contention of “ex nihilo, nihil fit”, seems impossible to reject. However, Craig argues the first premise out of an A-theory of time, and thus we shall look at a further analysis of the first premise: 1. x begins to exist at t, iff x comes into being at t 2. x comes into being at t iff (i) x exists at t, and the actual world includes no state of affairs in which x exists timelessly, (ii) t is either the first time at which x exists or is seperated from any t* < t at which x existed by an interval during which x does not exist, and (iii) x’s existing at t is a tensed fact (Craig,
I have to admit that Zimmerman’s talk was hard at times for me to comprehend. I would love feedback if I understood his divine argument wrong, because I have had a few discussions about it with my peers and many took away different views from his final argument for a divine being, and in this paper I will explain how I understood his final argument. To come upon the divine being of God, he had to eliminate all the other contingent and necessary options believed by other philosophers and scientists through reasoning. He explained how it wasn’t possible for their to be no answer for the cosmos, nor were any of the contingent explanations of science, philosophy, or an infinite past made any sense.
84). Thus if something being unable to cause itself means there is a first cause, which must necessarily be God that causes the universe. Goldstein’s argument instead argues that since the universe cannot cause itself (Premise 4), something outside universe must have caused the universe to exist. Goldstein’s framework is far weaker, particularly after her 4th premise, as it falls into a range of fallacies and presumptions. Indeed Goldstein’s framing reads as a simplification of the cosmological argument designed to be easier to criticised.
For instance, Kalanithi proposes the disputed claim that since “There is no proof of God; therefore, it is unreasonable to believe in God” (168). Through deductions, Kalanithi is able to present a sensitive topic and explain the reasoning behind his claim, creating support for the argument, as well as a more receptive environment. He also presents an epiphany through this strategy: the connection between
The objection addressed the validity of the argument which had the premise 1, nothing is the efficient cause of itself except God and premise 2, a chain of causes cannot be infinite. The argument thus concludes there must be a first cause. This conclusion agrees with my thesis that Saint Thomas Aquinas’s argument formulated in the second way leads to a valid argument, which concludes that there must be a first cause and that God
In the article, “The Absurdity of Life without God”, William Craig argues that if there really is no God, life would have no purpose. I loved this article so much I printed it out and have it kept in my office for other people to read. When one truley pieces the story of God together, it really is the best explnation for the universe. It is just not plausable that the expanision of the universe caused a “big bang” of all life, matter, in the perfect peice. The earth is the perfect distance from the sun so that we don’t burn up, and is perfect distance close so we don’t freeze.
Rowe describes that there may have never been a self-existent being, rather, an infinite collection of dependent existences. In this situation, every existence has a purpose, since those existences are only explained by the previous existences that resulted its existence initially (in point (a)) of PSR). Point (b) of PSR claims that the reason why this situation exists has an initial explanation, however, if only dependent beings have existed, then the circumstance will not have any purpose. Rowe says, “It won’t do to say that As have always been producing As--we can’t explain why there have always been As by saying that there have always been As” (51), where ‘As’ are compared to as dependent beings. Therefore, a self-existing being is the only reasonable explanation for the situation, and so premise (b) is true.
There have been an innumerable amount of arguments for the existence of God for hundreds of years. Some have become much more popular due to their merit, and their ability to stay relevant through changing times. Two arguments in particular that have been discussed for a very long time are the ontological and cosmological arguments. Each were proposed in the period of the high middle ages by members of the Roman Catholic Church. They each have been used extensively by many since their introduction.
The Design Argument The question of whether God truly exists has been debated between believers and non-believers for centuries. Also known as the Teleological Argument, the Design Argument argued by William Paley states that there are so many intricate details and designs in our world that there must be a creator. In addition, it also argues that this world could not have been created by chance alone due to the characteristics that make it the perfect condition for human life to exist (Pecorino). In this essay, I will be giving a brief overview of what the Design Argument is, then providing evidence and reasoning in favor of the argument, then addressing the criticisms of the argument, then comparing both sides of the argument, then finally
This theory understands the problems and hypocrisy of the original argument and looks at it this way instead: everything that has a beginning in time has a cause of existence. Most scientists agree that the universe has a beginning in time – some say it is the big bang – and thus must have been caused by something. This something would then be God. This is the closest the argument gets to proving the existence of God.
In addition, Ockham’s razor also puts the burden on the theist because an atheist accepts the world as it is whereas a theist brings in the idea of a God on top of the natural world. In short, Craig’s stance required more work and he fell
The question that is asked time and time again is whether or not god exists. It is evident that people hold different beliefs. It is evident that through some of the beliefs of J.L. Mackie that it could be argued that God does not actually exist. I find this argument to be more agreeable. In Mackie’s Evil and Omnipotence, he argues many points to support why it should be believed that god does not exist.
He further elaborates on this watch saying that even if you had never seen a watch made or known someone to make it you would still recognize that the watch had a creator. Also the watch at times may go wrong, even if this happens it still does not prove that the watch does not have a creator. Further that the watch has parts whose functions are unknown this still does not determine that the watch does not have a creator. Ultimately what this argument comes down to is that the watch is an analogy for the universe and or human beings. All of these things he attributed to the watch is in like fashion attributed to the universe.
If something is created, surely it has a creator; nothing makes itself. According to Lewis Vaughn, author of “Philosophy Here and Now” William Paley created the Teleological argument (Vaughn, 58). Paley argues that “the world resembles a watch in that it too looks as if it were designed by some intelligent being; therefore, the universe was probably also created by an intelligent designer-in other words by God” (Vaughn, 58-59). We know from common knowledge that if we see a car, a home, or something as simple as a stack of pancakes, someone made it; it did not make itself. Therefore, it is not likely that the world evolved as the naturalist Charles Darwin implied, or that there was a big boom and then suddenly earth was created and fully stocked for human and animal survival as George Lemaître suggested.
St. Anselm and Descartes are known for presenting the first ontological arguments on the existence of God. The word ontological is a compound word derived from ‘ont’ which means exists or being and ‘–ology’ which means the study of. Even though Anselm and Descartes’ arguments differ slightly, they both stem from the same reasoning. Unlike the other two arguments on God’s existence (teleological and cosmological), the ontological argument does not seek to use any empirical evidence but rather concentrates on pure reason. The rationale behind this school of thought