New remarks on the cosmological argument

Abstract

We present a formal analysis of the Cosmological Argument in its two main forms: that due to Aquinas, and the revised version of the Kalam Cosmological Argument more recently advocated by William Lane Craig. We formulate these two arguments in such a way that each conclusion follows in first-order logic from the corresponding assumptions. Our analysis shows that the conclusion which follows for Aquinas is considerably weaker than what his aims demand. With formalizations that are logically valid in hand, we reinterpret the natural language versions of the premises and conclusions in terms of concepts of causality consistent with (and used in) recent work in cosmology done by physicists. In brief: the Kalam argument commits the fallacy of equivocation in a way that seems beyond repair; two of the premises adopted by Aquinas seem dubious when the terms 'cause' and 'causality' are interpreted in the context of contemporary empirical science. Thus, while there are no problems with whether the conclusions follow logically from their assumptions, the Kalam argument is not viable, and the Aquinas argument does not imply a caused origination of the universe. The assumptions of the latter are at best less than obvious relative to recent work in the sciences. We conclude with mention of a new argument that makes some positive modifications to an alternative variation on Aquinas by Le Poidevin, which nonetheless seems rather weak.

Atheism as an Extreme Rejection of Rational Evidence for the Existence of God

“…Perhaps one may reply that phrasing premise 1 in terms of 'bringing something into existence' is a covert way of saying 'something causes something else.' The notion of causality is quite complicated, and thus I find that expressing the premises in terms of 'bringing into existence by something else' helps to clarify some confusion and avoid unnecessary difficulties (Romero and Pérez 2012). At any rate, even if expressed in terms of causality, premise 1 does not assert that every event must have a cause; rather, everything that begins to exist requires a cause.…”