Cosmological argument

High school (ages 12+)
Philosophy & Big Questions

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/cosmological-argument

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the argument classification?A posteriori argument for the existence of a necessary being
2. What is the historical development?Originated with Aristotle, significantly developed by Islamic scholars, Thomas Aquinas, and Leibniz
3. Why do people say the universe needs a cause?Because if the universe started, something had to make it start, and that something can't be inside the universe, or else we would have an endless chain of causes that never ends.
4. Who first talked about an "Unmoved Mover"?Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle talked about an eternal mover that starts motion but is not moved itself.

Infinite Regress: A series of causes or justifications that goes back endlessly without a starting point.
Contingent Being: An entity whose existence depends on other factors and could potentially not exist.
Necessary Being: An entity that must exist and cannot fail to exist; its existence is not dependent on anything else.
Natural Theology: The study of God or religion using reason and observation of the natural world, rather than divine revelation.