Cosmological argument
The Invalid Cosmological Argument
The cosmological argument is a prominent argument that tries to explain how the universe
came into existence. The cosmological argument is deductive by definition; it says that if
all its premises are true, then its conclusion, that there is a self-existent being, God, has to
be true. The cosmological argument states strong premises in order to help explain the
existence of the universe, but there are many strong objections to these premises as well.
Notable figures associated with the cosmological argument, Greek philosophers Plato and
Aristotle, put forth the idea of a first cause, or that the universe was created by a first
being. This being is independent of the universe and all other beings. The argument also
calls for an explanation behind everything that exists, and that everything is either
dependent of self-existent. There are several important premises of the argument.
The first major proponent of the cosmological argument is that there is something rather
than nothing. The universe is this something rather than nothing. It is said to be contingent,
or, its existence is the case but could have been otherwise. The next major proponent states
that the Principle of Sufficient Reason is true. This principle notes that there is a reason
why anything exists, and there is an explanation of every positive fact. Reasons for
believing the principle is that its truth in intuitive. Humans intuit that one plus one equals
two and triangles have three sides as the truth. They should therefore use this same
