1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910300630303321

Autore

Erasmus Jacobus

Titolo

The Kalām Cosmological Argument: A Reassessment / / by Jacobus Erasmus

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2018

ISBN

3-319-73438-5

Edizione

[1st ed. 2018.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XIII, 186 p.)

Collana

Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures, , 2211-1115 ; ; 25

Disciplina

297.211

Soggetti

Religion - Philosophy

Theology

Islam - Doctrines

History, Ancient

Philosophy of Religion

Christian Theology

Islamic Theology

Classical Studies

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Philoponus’ Creatio Ex Nihilo Argument -- Chapter 3. Al-Ghazālī’s Kalam Cosmological Argument -- Chapter 4. The Rise of Set Theory and Modern Cosmology -- Chapter 5. Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument -- Chapter 6. Problems with the Infinity Argument -- Chapter 7. Philosophical Arguments for a Beginning -- Chapter 8. Can Cosmology Justify Belief in an Eternal Universe? -- Chapter 9. God as the Explanation of the Universe -- Chapter 10. Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

This book offers a discussion of the kalām cosmological argument, and presents a defence of a version of that argument after critically evaluating three of the most important versions of the argument. It argues that, since the versions of the kalām cosmological argument defended by Philoponus (c. 490–c. 570), al-Ghazālī (1058– 1111), and the contemporary philosopher, William Lane Craig, all deny the



possibility of the existence of an actual infinite, these arguments are incompatible with Platonism and the view that God foreknows an endless future. This conclusion, however, is not a problem for the proponents of the kalām cosmological argument, for the book shows how the argument can be defended without denying the possibility of the actual infinite. In order to offer a comprehensive analysis of Philoponus and al-Ghazālī’s cosmological arguments, the book draws on recent English translations of some of their works. Next, the book advances a detailed argument against the popular argument based on the impossibility of an actual infinite. Finally, the book offers a unique defence of the kalām cosmological argument by defending philosophical arguments for a beginning of time that do not deny the actual infinite, evaluating which hypothesis best explains the discoveries of modern cosmology, and offering an argument in support of the premise that, if the universe came into existence, then God brought it into existence.