Cosmological Argument Roundup

Featuring Gaven Kerr, Joshua Rasmussen, and Robert Koons

Cosmological arguments attempt to prove (= reasonably demonstrate) the existence of God from effects in the world. They are first cause arguments not insofar as God is the triggering impetus in a temporal sequence of events but rather that God is the highest cause in a network of subordinate secondary or instrumental causes. Here, the word “primary” is more suitable than “first” concerning the type of cause God is supposed to be. Rather than thinking of God as the finger that flicks the first Cosmic Domino, God is more like the live musician whose effects (the world) are always dependent upon his active performance. Finally, first cause arguments for God are a characteristic aspect of natural theology, which is the highpoint of metaphysical inquiry. In a word, cosmological arguments are the hunt for ultimate intelligibility, the answer to the question of, “Why anything?”

What follows is a collection, in no particular order, of conversations on cosmological arguments for God (most of them presented on The Pat Flynn Show) featuring some of the best contemporary representatives, including Gaven Kerr, Robert Koons, and Joshua Rasmussen.

First, a presentation of my own:

Thomistic Cosmological Reasoning for God (ft. Gaven Kerr):

Also with Gaven: Arguing Essence and Existence and Do Aquinas’s 5 Ways Prove the Existence of God? Finally, a study of Aquinas’s De Ente.

Philosophical Approaches to God and How They Differ (ft. Kerr and Rasmussen):

Also with Josh: How Reason Can Lead to God

Why the First Cause Must Be Purely Actual (= God) (ft. Rob Koons):

Also with Rob: The Philosophical Approach to God and Grim Reaper Paradoxes.