Critiques of the cosmological argument

Overview

Hume's objection about the whole and its parts, fallacy of composition and calling the universe a brute fact.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   State Hume's objection about the whole and its parts.

   Model answer

   Hume argued that explaining each part of a collection explains the whole, so once every item in the universe is accounted for it is unreasonable to demand a further cause of the collection.

2. 2

   What is the fallacy of composition, and how is it used here?

   Model answer

   The fallacy of composition infers that what is true of the parts is true of the whole; critics say the cosmological argument commits it by moving from every thing having a cause to the universe having one.

3. 3

   Summarise Russell's position in his debate with Copleston.

   Model answer

   Russell held that the universe is just there, a brute fact, and that the demand for an explanation of the totality is a demand no answer could satisfy.

4. 4

   What did Copleston reply?

   Model answer

   Copleston argued that refusing to look for an explanation is not the same as showing there is none, and that a series of contingent beings, however long, cannot account for itself.

5. 5

   What is meant by calling the universe a brute fact?

   Model answer

   It means the universe exists without any further explanation, so the question why there is something rather than nothing has no answer.

6. 6

   How does modern cosmology bear on the argument?

   Model answer

   The Big Bang gives the universe a beginning, which supporters treat as evidence for a cause, while critics note that a physical beginning need not imply an agent and that time itself may begin with it.

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