first cause argument

first cause argument
One of the classic arguments for the existence of God. Every event in the natural world has a preceding cause. But this opens up a regress of causes stretching back forever in time. To stop the regress we must postulate a first cause, and this will be the creative action of God. Russell supposed that the argument is uniquely bad, in that the conclusion (that there is a first cause) actually contradicts the premise (that every event has a preceding cause). To avoid his complaint a proponent of the argument must distinguish between natural events and unnatural or supernatural events. The former all require causes, but the latter may be their own cause. God is causa sui . The difficulty then lies in seeing why the natural world should not be causa sui . The argument inherits the problems of the cosmological argument, of which it is a variant.

Philosophy dictionary. . 2011.

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  • first-cause argument — /ferrst kawz /, Philos. an argument for the existence of God, asserting the necessity of an uncaused cause of all subsequent series of causes, on the assumption that an infinite regress is impossible. Cf. cosmological argument. * * * …   Universalium

  • first-cause argument — /ferrst kawz /, Philos. an argument for the existence of God, asserting the necessity of an uncaused cause of all subsequent series of causes, on the assumption that an infinite regress is impossible. Cf. cosmological argument …   Useful english dictionary

  • First Cause — Theol. God. [1895 1900] * * * In philosophy, the uncreated or self created cause to which every series of causes must ultimately be traced. Used by ancient Greek thinkers, the concept was adopted by the Christian tradition and became the basis of …   Universalium

  • Cause — • Cause, as the correlative of effect, is understood as being that which in any way gives existence to, or contributes towards the existence of, any thing; which produces a result; to which the origin of any thing is to be ascribed Catholic… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Cosmological argument — The cosmological argument is an argument for the existence of a First Cause (or instead, an Uncaused cause) to the universe, and by extension is often used as an argument for the existence of an unconditioned or supreme being, usually then… …   Wikipedia

  • Kalam cosmological argument — The Kalām cosmological argument is a contemporary version of the cosmological argument taking its form from Kalām, a form of dialectical argument used in Islamic philosophy.Fact|date=February 2008. It attempts to prove the existence of God by… …   Wikipedia

  • cosmological argument — Philos. an argument for the existence of God, asserting that the contingency of each entity, and of the universe composed wholly of such entities, demands the admission of an adequate external cause, which is God. Also called cosmological proof.… …   Universalium

  • First Amendment to the United States Constitution — First Amendment redirects here. For other uses, see First Amendment (disambiguation). United States of America This a …   Wikipedia

  • cosmological argument — Philos. an argument for the existence of God, asserting that the contingency of each entity, and of the universe composed wholly of such entities, demands the admission of an adequate external cause, which is God. Also called cosmological proof.… …   Useful english dictionary

  • physico-theological argument — Term used by Kant to denote any argument that starts from some facts about the world, and attempts to derive the existence of a deity. The cosmological argument, argument from (or to) design, and the first cause argument are the best known… …   Philosophy dictionary

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