Outline the Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God...

Outline the cosmological argument for the existence of God (21 marks) The cosmological argument aims to prove the existence of God whilst also providing an explanation for the beginning of the universe, with different views coming from various scholars. It is an a posteriori argument, meaning we can draw conclusions from experiences based on what we see around us, although it is not a fact. Despite the separate interpretations, the cosmological argument revolves around a first cause which started the universe. This cause is what we come to know as God, and the scholars mainly focus on different ways of proving his existence by looking at the world around us. When looking at the argument, Thomas Aquinas is the driving force behind most†¦show more content†¦Contingent beings such as humans either exist or don’t exist, and there must have been a time where nothing existed. But contingent beings cannot come from nowhere and if a necessary being did not exist, then we would not have existed at all. Because we have not existed infinitely, God has to exist to explain why we are here. This view was also taken by F.C. Copleston, who believed contingent beings were dependant on something else for their existence, in this case the necessary being which is God. His views were widely publicised as a result of his radio debate in 1947 with Bertrand Russell, as Copleston could not see any other logical explanation for contingency. The cosmological argument operates under the principle of sufficient reason, something identified by Gottfried Leibniz. He avoided the problem of infinite regression by reinterpreting the endless series of explanations. Even if the universe has always existed, there is nothing within it that suggests why it exists. So this principle states that everything has a reason whether it is unknown or not. Sufficient reason refers to a complete explanation, for example saying your parents caused you is only partial and not enough. The existence of God fully explains it as it starts the whole chain of humans and family, therefore fulfilling the sufficient reason. To conclude, various suggestions are apparent when trying to prove God’s existence. Our human demand for an explanation is satisfied, and fits withShow MoreRelatedThe Design Argument - as Level Essay examples3128 Words   |  13 Pagesa. Outline the Key Concepts of the Design Argument [21 marks] The design argument is also referred to at the Teleological Argument stemmed from the Greek work ‘Telos’ meaning end or purpose. It is an ‘A posterior’ argument (from experience) based on our empirical senses and it is synthetic meaning that it is from observation. The argument is also inductive meaning there a number of possible conclusions. The main basis of the Teleological argument is based on a designer commonly known as ‘the