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    The cosmological argument is defective. — Carmelics
    Home/Natural Theology
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The cosmological argument is defective.

    Natural Theology
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    2 reasons against

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    Reasons For

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    • 1.The cosmological argument proceeds from an empirical premise about my existence to the existence of an unconditioned, absolutely necessary being whose nonexistence is impossible.
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    • 2.The properties of this absolutely necessary being can be determined not through experience but only through reason, from a priori concepts alone.
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    • 3.The only concept that suffices to determine the properties of an absolutely necessary being is that of a most real being, so the concept of an absolutely necessary being presupposes that concept.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.The cosmological argument can terminate in a necessary being identified through causal and modal reasoning without invoking the ontological argument's conceptual proof.
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    • 2.Aquinas's Third Way identifies necessity through dependency relations in the causal order, not through analysis of the concept of a most real being.
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    • 3.Kant's charge of dependence on the ontological argument conflates the epistemic route to God's attributes with the logical structure of the existence proof itself.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.The principle of sufficient reason, defended by Leibniz and later Pruss, grounds the inference to a necessary being in rational metaphysics, not mere conceptual analysis.
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    • 2.If every contingent fact demands an explanation and no infinite regress of contingent causes suffices, a necessary being follows without presupposing its own concept guarantees existence.
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    Topics

    Natural Theology

    Related

    Aquinas's Third Way identifies necessity through dependency relations in the cau...If every contingent fact demands an explanation and no infinite regress of conti...Kant's charge of dependence on the ontological argument conflates the epistemic ...That the most real being necessarily exists is the burden of the ontological arg...
    +7 moreShow less
    The cosmological argument can terminate in a necessary being identified through ...The cosmological argument proceeds from an empirical premise about my existence ...The only concept that suffices to determine the properties of an absolutely nece...The ontological argument is defective because nothing can be determined to exist...The principle of sufficient reason, defended by Leibniz and later Pruss, grounds...The properties of this absolutely necessary being can be determined not through ...Therefore, the cosmological argument depends on the ontological argument to dete...

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    Source

    AI-extracted2/3 agreementValid
    SEP: cosmological-argument
    Kant, as presented in the passage
    View source passageHide passage
    Kant argued that the cosmological argument introduced an empirical premise to evade the difficulties of the ontological argument. Although in the ontological argument the perfect being is allegedly determined to exist through its own concept, in fact nothing can be determined to exist in this manner; one has to begin with existence (see entry on Ontological Arguments). The cosmological argument, on the other hand, proceeds from an empirical premise about my existence to the existence of an unconditioned, absolutely necessary being, a being whose nonexistence is “impossible”, “absolutely inco...
    Extraction notes

    The extracted argument faithfully captures Kant's reasoning as presented in the source passage: the cosmological argument depends on the ontological argument to determine the absolutely necessary being, and since the ontological argument is defective, the cosmological argument is likewise defective.

    Validity:

    Confidence: High confidence. This is a clearly structured argument attributed to Kant.

    Details

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