Cosmological argument
| Part of a series on |
| the Existence of God |
|---|
 |
In philosophy of religion, a cosmological argument is an argument for the existence of God based on observational statements concerning the universe and its contents, examined metaphysically through the lenses of causation or motion (change). The universe is determined to be contingent or finite in a manner that substantiates an external foundation for its existence. By referring to reason and observation alone for its premises—and precluding revelation—this category of argument falls within the domain of natural theology. A cosmological argument can also be referred to as an argument from universal causation, a First Cause argument or prime mover argument.
The concept of causation, or causal principle, is a fundamental pillar of most cosmological arguments, especially in affirming the necessity for a First Cause. The latter is identified by philosophical analysis to be God as determined within classical or other specific conceptions of theism. Some formulations of the argument classify the universe as contingent in the metaphysical sense that it has the potential to not exist and lacks a reason for its existence within itself. Other variations expound its finitude in the impossibility of an infinite regress of causal interactions, kinetic interactions between objects in motion or past events, to specify the existence of a First Cause or an unmoved mover.
The origins of the argument date back at least to Aristotle, developed subsequently within the scholarly traditions of Neoplatonism and early Christianity, then under medieval Islamic scholasticism through the 9th to 12th centuries. It would eventually be re-introduced to Christian theology in the 13th century by Thomas Aquinas. In the 18th century, it would become associated with the principle of sufficient reason articulated by Gottfried Leibniz and Samuel Clarke, itself an exposition of the Parmenidean causal principle that "nothing comes from nothing". Contemporary defenders of cosmological arguments include William Lane Craig, Robert Koons, John Lennox, Stephen Meyer, and Alexander Pruss.