Cosmological Argument

Everything that begins to exist has a cause, and the universe began to exist, so the universe has a cause.

The cosmological argument reasons from the existence of the world to a cause beyond it. One form, the kalām argument, holds that everything that begins to exist has a cause, and that the universe began to exist, so the universe has a cause. Another form, the argument from contingency, holds that the universe might not have existed, and that contingent things require an explanation outside themselves. That explanation must finally rest in a necessary being, one that exists by its own nature rather than by anything else. The argument therefore points to a first cause, or a necessary ground, rather than to an infinite chain of causes.

The Argument in Form

Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
The universe began to exist.

Therefore, the universe has a cause.

Proponents and History

Thomas Aquinas set out five ways to God in the thirteenth century, including an argument from motion and an argument from contingency. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz later stated the principle of sufficient reason: nothing exists without a reason why it exists rather than not. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, William Lane Craig developed the kalām argument, drawing on philosophy and cosmology, while Robert Koons, Timothy O'Connor, Richard Gale, and Alexander Pruss have defended versions of the contingency argument and the principle of sufficient reason.

Standard Objections

David Hume questioned whether causal reasoning can reach beyond experience, and warned against treating the whole universe as if it were one more effect needing a cause, a move often called the fallacy of composition. Bertrand Russell replied that the universe may simply be a brute fact, with no explanation beyond itself. Critics also ask whether a necessary being is a coherent idea at all, or whether the argument proves only a first cause rather than a personal God. The argument also faces the question of what caused the proposed first cause, and why the chain of explanations should stop there. These objections are developed on the cosmological disproof page.

References

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Cosmological Argument Free / open access
Oxford Bibliographies — Cosmological Argument Subscription

Related Across the Site

Aesthetic Argument Argument — The experience of beauty and sublimity points beyond the natural world to a source of beauty itself.
Argument from Consciousness Argument — Conscious, intentional minds are difficult to explain on a purely physical account of the world, and theism explains them better.
Argument from Miracles Argument — Reports of miracles, above all the resurrection of Jesus, provide evidence that a supernatural power acts in the world.
Argument from Reason Argument — The reliability of human reason, and the laws of logic themselves, point to a rational ground beyond the natural world.
Argument from Religious Experience Argument — Widespread and persistent religious experiences are best explained by a transcendent reality that people genuinely encounter.
Moral Argument Argument — Objective moral values and duties exist, and they are best explained by a moral lawgiver.
Ontological Argument Argument — God is the greatest conceivable being, and a being that exists is greater than one that does not, so God must exist.
Teleological / Design Argument Argument — The order, complexity, and fine-tuning of the universe point to a designer rather than to chance alone.

Related Arguments

Cosmological Disproof — Modern cosmology is said to remove the need for a first cause of the universe.
Teleological / Design Argument — The order, complexity, and fine-tuning of the universe point to a designer rather than to chance alone.
Ontological Argument — God is the greatest conceivable being, and a being that exists is greater than one that does not, so God must exist.