Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 M.A. in Philosophy of Science
2 Associate Professor, Philosophy of Science Dept, Sharif Technology University
Abstract
The well-known American philosopher and theologian, William Lane Craig has been known as the reviver of a particular cosmological argument which he calls "Kalam cosmological argument". The main part of this argument is that the universe has some temporal beginning (temporal origination). To prove this important premise of his argument, Craig appeals to four reasons two of which are a priori (philosophical) and two others are a posteriori (scientific).
In the present article, after depicting the beginning of the universe as Craig thinks, one of his a priori arguments for this claim is introduced and assessed. Finally, the article comes to the conclusion that, though Craig's picture of the beginning of the universe is consistent and coherent, it is not able to prove that such a picture may be realized in the external world.
Keywords
)