Arguments for a First Cause

Abstract

Cosmological models which postulate an infinite past, such as eternal inflation model, Ekyroptic universe, and Penrose’s conformal cyclic cosmology, face various difficulties related to the Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics (Aron Wall), and arguments against an infinite regress of causes and events: (1) The argument from the impossibility of concrete actual infinities. (2) The argument from the impossibility of traversing an actual infinite. (3) The argument from the viciousness of dependence regress. (4) The argument from the Grim Reaper paradox. Any one of these arguments would be sufficient. Bounce cosmologies which postulate entropy reversal (Sean Carroll) neglect the problem of causal dependence at the interface. I show that Linford’s suggestion that the universes to either side of the interface might be interpreted as the simultaneous causes of each other entails a vicious circularity. Likewise, a closed causal loop (Gott and Li) is viciously circular. Given that an infinite causal regress and a closed loop is not the case, there is a First Cause.