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This 4 page paper examines two of the forms the cosmological argument takes; it follows the premise-objection-rebuttal format. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
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4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVCosArg.rtf
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argument takes; it follows the premise-objection-rebuttal format. Premise 1 There is a First Sustaining Cause. Aquinas held that "among the things whose existence needs explanation are contingent beings, which depend
for their existence upon other beings" (Reichenbach, 2004). Others have rephrased the premise: Richard Taylor argues that "the universe (meaning everything that ever existed), as contingent, needs explanation" (Reichenbach, 2004).
William Rowe argues that "the term universe refers to an abstract entity or set" and wonders "why that set (the universe) [has] the members that it does rather than some
other members or none at all?" (Reichenbach, 2004). In other words, "Why is there something rather than nothing?" (Reichenbach, 2004). The cosmological argument says that "what is contingent exists because
of a necessary being" that we usually refer to as God (Reichenbach, 2004). That is, the universe exists as it does because it is contingent upon the existence of a
being that created it. Objection There are numerous objections to this, but in a paper this short we cannot examine them all. One objection was stated by Bertrand Russell: "the
universe just is" (Reichenbach, 2004). It needs no explanation for its existence. Russell believes that since we cannot truly understand or experience the universe, which is beyond our comprehension, we
cannot ask about its cause (Reichenbach, 2004). Rebuttal The response to Russells argument against contingency is that if parts of the universe are contingent (dependent upon other parts), then we
are justified in our belief that the universe itself is contingent (Reichenbach, 2004). Unfortunately, this rebuttal is weak because it depends upon the logical fallacy known as Composition, in which
it is assumed that because a part of a thing has certain properties, those properties apply to the whole (Reichenbach, 2004). To take a simple example, if we look at
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