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However, with the temporal cause, we may not assume an extra cause, because there will have been no prior time at which this cause may have occurred. As such, this "definition implies that the universe cannot be caused to begin to exist since there is no earlier time at which the cause could occur."
Resuming, in order to reject the argument of efficient causation summarized by Aquinas, we would need to either assume that all objects are contingent (first of Russell's argumentations) or to assume that there was a temporal cause, in the sense that the First Cause simply could not have existed because there was no prior time. Depoe, John. DOES the COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENTREALLY ASSUME the ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT?. Baylor University. December 2002. Excellent description on Russell's failed refutations. On the Internet at www.johndepoe.com/cosmo_argument.pdf
Bibliography
1. Russell, Bertrand. Why I am not a Theist. On the Internet at http://jumper52.cjb.cc/russell.htm
2. Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Existence of God. On the Internet at http://jumper52.cjb.cc/aquinas.htm
3. Smith, Quentin. CAUSATION and the LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY of a DIVINE CAUSE (1996). Philosophical Topics, Volume 21, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 169-191. On the Internet at http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/quentin_smith/causation.html
Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Existence of God. On the Internet at http://jumper52.cjb.cc/aquinas.htm
Russell, Bertrand. Why I am not a Theist. On the Internet at http://jumper52.cjb.cc/russell.htm
Depoe, John. DOES the COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENTREALLY ASSUME the ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT?. Baylor University. December 2002. Excellent description on Russell's failed refutations. On the Internet at www.johndepoe.com/cosmo_argument.pdf
Russell, Bertrand. Why I am not a Theist. On the Internet at http://jumper52.cjb.cc/russell.htm
Smith, Quentin. CAUSATION and the LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY of a DIVINE CAUSE (1996). Philosophical Topics, Volume 21, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 169-191. On the Internet at http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/quentin_smith/causation.html
Bibliography
1. Russell, Bertrand. Why I am not a Theist. On the Internet at http://jumper52.cjb.cc/russell.htm
2. Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Existence of God. On the Internet at http://jumper52.cjb.cc/aquinas.htm
3. Smith, Quentin. CAUSATION and the LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY of a DIVINE CAUSE (1996). Philosophical Topics, Volume 21, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 169-191. On the Internet at http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/quentin_smith/causation.html
4. Depoe, John. DOES the COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENTREALLY ASSUME the ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT?. Baylor University. December 2002. Excellent description on Russell's failed refutations. On the Internet at www.johndepoe.com/cosmo_argument.pdf
Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Existence of God. On the Internet at http://jumper52.cjb.cc/aquinas.htm
Russell, Bertrand. Why I am not a Theist. On the Internet at http://jumper52.cjb.cc/russell.htm
Russell, Bertrand. Why I am not a Theist. On the Internet at http://jumper52.cjb.cc/russell.htm
Smith, Quentin. CAUSATION and the LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY of a DIVINE CAUSE (1996). Philosophical Topics, Volume 21, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 169-191. On the Internet at http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/quentin_smith/causation.html
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Existence of God The philosophical questions I will try to answer and why they are of particular interest to me. Opinions that ordinary people tend to have on the issue The great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam profoundly influenced Western philosophy. In all of these religions, the existence of God is a central claim. For nearly a millennium from 500 S.D to about 1500 A.D., Western philosophy was the handmaiden
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If something happens, then it is a belief that somebody caused that thing to happen the way it did, and it is an effect of some kind of action. If then several actions take place one after the other, then the earlier/older happening caused the later event thus, "the first cause is the cause of all things and itself had no cause since it always existed." (Trigilio, and Brighenti
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