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    The cosmological argument does not establish that God is ... — Carmelics
    Home/Natural Theology
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    The cosmological argument does not establish that God is the necessary being responsible for the rest of the cosmos

    Natural Theology
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    2 reasons for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.The cosmological argument requires a terminating explanation, but any candidate necessary being must itself be explained by what makes it necessary rather than contingent.
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    • 2.Leibniz's own Principle of Sufficient Reason applies reflexively: if God's necessity requires no further explanation, this exemption is arbitrary and undermines the PSR that motivates the argument.
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    • 3.A principle that demands explanation for all contingent things but exempts one entity generates an ad hoc stopping rule, not a principled metaphysical terminus.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Hume's Dialogues establish that inferring the properties of a cause solely from its effects is epistemically illegitimate when the causal mechanism is entirely unknown.
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    • 2.Even granting a necessary first cause, the inference from 'necessary being' to 'personal, omnipotent God' requires bridging premises about intentionality and power that the argument's structure cannot supply.
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    • 3.The concept of necessity invoked—whether logical, metaphysical, or causal—is systematically ambiguous across Aquinas, Leibniz, and Kalam formulations, preventing a unified conclusion about the being's nature.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
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    • 1.If we truly understood the nature of matter, we might be unable to conceive matter's nonexistence
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    • 2.If matter's nonexistence is inconceivable given full understanding, then matter's existence is not contingent and requires no external explanation
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    • 3.By parity of reasoning, the same move used to establish God as a necessary being could be made for matter
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    Topics

    Natural Theology

    Connections

    1 topic

    Modality & Possibility2 linked

    Related

    A principle that demands explanation for all contingent things but exempts one e...By parity of reasoning, the same move used to establish God as a necessary being...Even granting a necessary first cause, the inference from 'necessary being' to '...Hume's Dialogues establish that inferring the properties of a cause solely from ...
    +5 moreShow less
    If matter's nonexistence is inconceivable given full understanding, then matter'...If we truly understood the nature of matter, we might be unable to conceive matt...Leibniz's own Principle of Sufficient Reason applies reflexively: if God's neces...The concept of necessity invoked—whether logical, metaphysical, or causal—is sys...The cosmological argument requires a terminating explanation, but any candidate ...

    Similar

    The cosmological argument does not rely on notions central to the onto...87%Therefore, the cosmological argument depends on the ontological argume...85%So understood, the cosmological argument does not rely on logical nece...85%It is necessary to flesh out the nature of the necessary being if the ...83%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: natural-theology
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    David Hume puts forward three main objections to the type of cosmological argument offered by Leibniz and Clarke (Hume 1779, Part IX, and the entry Hume on religion). The first is that the notion of (absolutely) necessary existence itself is problematic. Suppose that some being is absolutely necessary—then its nonexistence should be absolutely inconceivable. But, says Hume, for any being whose existence we can conceive, we can also conceive its nonexistence, and thus it isn’t a necessary being
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (2 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit