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Kalam Cosmological Argument Essay

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The Kalam Cosmological Argument and the B-theory of time

INTRODUCTION

Inherent in the Kalam Cosmological Argument, as defended by WIlliam Lane Craig, is the assumption of the A-theory of time. The A-theory of time accepts the view that there is a past, present and future, where future moments become increasingly present, and present moments become increasing past. Time exists very much like the way we experience it. The alternative view, the B-theory of time, sees time as a totality, that all times exist equally, or are equally real. Moments in time are ordered/related in terms of earlier-than, simultaneous with and later-than.

I intend to defend a version of the Kalam Cosmological Argument that does not require the use of the A-theory of time, that is, that the Kalam Cosmological Argument cannot be rejected on the grounds of this assumption.

In a syllogistic fashion, Craig presents the …show more content…

Everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence
2. The universe began to exist
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause of existence

His defense of the Kalam Cosmological Argument revolves mostly around the second premise. This is mostly due to him finding the first premise as intuitively obvious, where he claims that “no one, seriously denies it”. From experience, we find that physical objects do not come into existence without causes. 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,

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