The Kalām Cosmological Argument: Philosophical Arguments for the Finitude of the Past

Description

Did the universe begin to exist? If so, did it have a cause? Or could it have come into existence uncaused, from nothing? These questions are taken up by the medieval—though recently-revived—kalam cosmological argument, which has arguably been the most discussed philosophical argument for God’s existence in recent decades. The kalam’s line of reasoning maintains that the series of past events cannot be infinite but rather is finite. Since the universe could not have come into being uncaused, there must be a transcendent cause of the universe’s beginning, a conclusion supportive of theism. This anthology on the philosophical arguments for the finitude of the past asks: Is an infinite series of past events metaphysically possible? Should actual infinites be restricted to theoretical mathematics, or can an actual infinite exist in the concrete world? These essays by kalam proponents and detractors engage in lively debate about the nature of infinity and its conundrums; about frequently-used kalam argument paradoxes of Tristram Shandy, the Grim Reaper, and Hilbert’s Hotel; and about the infinity of the future Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction Part 1: Whatever Begins to Exist Has a Cause 1. A New Critique of Theological Interpretations of Physical Cosmology 2. Prof. Grünbaum on the “Normalcy of Nothingness” in the Leibnizian and Kalām Cosmological Arguments Part 2: The Universe Began to Exist 3. Must Metaphysical Time Have a Beginning? 4. Craig on the Actual Infinite 5. On the Beginning of Time: A Reply to Wes Morriston Concerning the Existence of Actual Infinities 6. No Beginning, No Explanation: The Kalām Cosmological Argument and the Principle of Sufficient Reason 7. Craig and the Kalām Arguments 8. Graham Oppy on the Kalām Cosmological Argument 9. Heartbreak at Hilbert’s Hotel 10. No Heartbreak at Hilbert’s Hotel: A Reply to Landon Hedrick 11. Finitism and the Beginning of the Universe 12. Traversal of the Infinite, the “Big Bang,” and the Kalām Cosmological Argument 13. The Tristram Shandy Paradox: A Response to David S. Oderberg 14. The Tristram Shandy Paradox: A Reply to Graham Oppy 15. Methuselah’s Diary and the Finitude of the Past 16. The Grim Reaper Kalām Argument: From Temporal and Causal Finitism to God 17. Endless Future: A Persistent Thorn in the Kalām Cosmological Argument 18. The Kalām Cosmological Argument Permissions Index