The cosmological argument

(i) Examine the view that the cosmological argument provides an explanation for the world and is a trustworthy basis for belief in the existence of God. (21)

The cosmological argument, also known as the first cause argument, is a classical argument for the existence of God. The word cosmological comes from the Greek for order and it is an inductive argument as the premises are true but the conclusion may not be, and it is also synthetic where the truth is determined by experience and needs to be proven. It is also a posteriori and also based on natural theology.

The Cosmological argument finds its answer for the start of the universe through causes, meaning everything is caused by something, or everything is dependent on something else. The argument attempts to find proof for God’s existence stating that as something cannot come from nothing God must exist in order for anything and everything else to exist.

The origins of the cosmological argument come from Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle.
Plato 428-347 BC records one of the earliest versions of the Cosmological arguments in his book of ‘Laws’. Plato writes about the argument through an exchange between an Athenian and Clianis. The Athenian attempts to prove the existence of the gods by arguing that, of all the different types of motion, the motion “which can move itself” is “necessarily the earliest and mightiest of all changes”. It is clear from his argument that infinite regress does not exist therefore implying that there must have been a first cause. This first cause must be able to cause itself it must be ‘an uncaused causer’ or ‘unmoved mover’. Plato believed that the universe started with a ‘prime mover’, which was able to move itself. Another thing Plato believed was that only souls had the ability to move themselves therefore what caused the universe must have been a soul.
Plato’s idea was taken by Aristotle and then developed. Aristotle created the theory of the unmoved-mover. Aristotle observed that if something is said to be in motion, then it must have been capable of moving. Aristotle’s proof for god’s existence can be broken down into three parts; all things that are in motion must be moved by something, that mover which is ultimately responsible for moving another thing must be responsible for its own motion, and that which moves itself cannot be completely in motion. ‘The series must start with something for nothing can come from nothing’. Aristotle’s conclusion is that time and motion are eternal. This proves the existence of God because we must consider that if motion is a necessary attribute to the universe, then there is always the chance of the existence of something outside of the universe, which is not confined by time or motion, this uncaused causer, is an explanation for God.
Thomas' Aquinas' five ways were heavily influenced by Aristotelian philosophy. They are the most well known arguments for the cosmological argument. Three of Aquinas’ ways may be used as evidence to support God's existence:
Motion: (The ‘Kalam’ argument)
• Everything in the world is moving or changing
• Nothing can move or change by itself
• There cannot be an infinite regress of things changing other things
• Therefore there must be a Prime Mover (or changer)
• This is called God
Causes:
• Everything in the world has a cause
• Nothing is the cause of itself
• There cannot be an infinite regress of causes
• Therefore there has to be a first cause to start the chain of causes
• This first cause we call God
Contingency:
• Everything in the world is contingent (can either exist or not exist)
• If things can not exist, there must have been a time when they did not exist
• If everything in the world can not exist, there must have been a time when nothing existed
• Things exist now so there must be something on which we all depend which brought us into existence
• This necessary being we call God
GWF Leibniz’ principle of sufficient reason, is similar to Aquinas’ idea of contingency, in this principle, Leibniz suggests that as we can explain everything within the world with reference to something else in the world, therefore there must be an ultimate reason that does not break any of the rules when explaining the entire universe. This reason must bee something superior outside the world that does not follow our rules; therefore not in itself depending on anything, this is God. Leibniz’ theory seeks the explanation beyond those that we seen immediately and asks not how by why we came into existence.
F. C. Copleston agrees with Aquinas on the subject of infinite regress ‘I don’t believe that the infinity of the series of events, if such an infinity can be proved, would be in the slightest degree relevant to the situation. If you add up chocolates you get a number of chocolates after all and not sheep. If you add up chocolates to infinity you would get an infinite number of chocolates’ this is the same as contingent beings. He states that the existence of contingent things can only be explained if we accept that there is a being with necessary existence who started off the chain of all other existent things. Copleston argues that a sufficient explanation for the existence of all contingent things must exist, this must be God, and God alone contains a reason for existence within himself.

Cosmological arguments not only provide evidence for God's existence, but may also be used to justify the existence of moral norms. For instance, unless God existed it might be said there could be no basis for ethics. The argument here is that without God, we would merely be subject to our own ideas of what right and wrong is, and left in a sea of moral relativism. However, if God exists then many Christians argue that we can have a definite sense of right and wrong (moral realism), and also what the purpose of life is. Therefore, 'first causes' do not simply concern the physical world, but can affect every aspect of our being. As such, for some Christians the cost of rejecting cosmological arguments as a proof of God's existence is too high a price to pay when moral factors are taken into account..