RE: Tentatively Christian; looking for a reasonable discussion
March 18, 2015 at 1:29 pm
(This post was last modified: March 18, 2015 at 1:40 pm by Mudhammam.)
(March 18, 2015 at 1:09 pm)Esquilax Wrote: Finally, Kalam is particularly galling if you know the history of the argument. It's actually the second iteration of a more general cosmological argument that used to run: "Everything has a cause, the universe is a thing, therefore the universe has a cause." Perhaps you can see the obvious flaw in that rendition of the argument? "What caused god, then?"Where in history are you placing its origin? I see "Kalam" written all over Plato's argument for "soul" in Laws Book X:
When it became clear that the original cosmological argument was a non-starter, Kalam was invented. The "begins to exist" language was added to the first premise, and this is particularly infuriating because it was done so purely to keep the cosmological argument valid. No evidence had been found, no research conducted, no philosophical thought offered; the argument was wrong, and so based on absolutely nothing, it was changed so that it was not-wrong. It's so clear, just looking at the history, that the priorities of the people formulating this argument weren't to come to a correct conclusion, but to come to the god conclusion by any means necessary. That's not exactly a way to come to truth, that's a presupposition.
Quote:
He who loves God cannot endeavour that God should love him in return - Baruch Spinoza