The Kalam Cosmological Argument

     

What is Standard Argument Form?

 

The standard form of an argument is a way of presenting the argument which makes clear which are premises, how many premises there are and which proposition is the conclusion. In standard form, the conclusion of the argument is listed last.

 

In a standard argument, you must have at least one premise and only one conclusion. 

 

 

P = Premise (add a number with each premise you add such as P3, it is your third premise). These are your reasons for your conclusion.

 

SC = Sub conclusion (use this if you need to make a conclusion in something else before the main conclusion of the arguement. Usually this is only done if another conclusion needs to be made to get to the final conclusion).

 

C = Conclusion (This is the concluding result of your premises, this is your last statement that determines the result of the arguement).

 

Why does Standard Argumentation Matter?

 

It matters because this is the standard way widely accepted by the world as the structure and form for an academic argument. For many of the arguments that directly deal with reason, this format will  be used to show the unity with current academic tradition and christian apologetics. 

 

The Kalam Cosmological Arguement

 

P1: Everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence.

 

P2: The universe began to exist.

 

SC/P3: Therefore, the universe has a cause of its existence.

 

P4: No scientific explanations (in terms of physical laws and initial conditions of the universe) can provide a causal account of the origin of the universe, since such are a part of the universe.

 

C: Therefore, the cause must be a personal agent outside the universe, because something cannot come from nothing

 

Other Things To Think About

 

Something cannot come from nothing.

If something can come from nothing, then it becomes inexplicable why just anything or everything doesn’t come into being from nothing. If universe’s are the only things that come from nothing, how does one explain that? Nothingness has no properties which to favour universes.

Common experience and scientific confirms something cannot come from nothing.

 

What if the universe was infinite? Would it defeat this argument?

 

An infinite universe solves the problem of something coming from nothing since it has always existed.

 

Is the universe infinite?

 

P1. If the universe is infinite it requires it to have always existed.

 

P2. If the universe always existed that requires an infinite amount of past events.

 

P3. An actual infinite cannot exist.

 

P4. An infinite temporal regress of events is an actual infinite.

 

P5. Therefore, the universe could not have always existed and the universe is not infinite. 

 

Source: William Lane Craig