Philosophy 1020 Lecture 2: Lecture 2 - The Cosmological Argument

• School: Western University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: Philosophy 1020
• Professor: Dennis Klimchuk

Document Summary

St thomas aquinas: five ways to prove god exists. All have in common: there are features in the world we can all observe and the only explanation for these features is god. Inference to the best explanation, god"s existence is the best possible explanation for the features existence. Aquinas and paley say that not only is it the best, but the only explanation. Or is it another process that can explain it that we simply do not understand. Aquinas said: there are 2 explanations, one is conceptually impossible and the other is god, leaving only god: aquinas on causation: there are things in the world caused by other things, everything is caused by something. If god can exist without a cause it might as well be the world that exists without a cause. Russels is more modest, the world can exist without cause if god can exist without cause, and it is more reasonable.