The First Cause? Prime Mover Argument
May 8, 2015 at 8:03 am
(This post was last modified: May 8, 2015 at 8:05 am by reasonablerob.)
I was asked to set up thread on this topic, so I'm happy to oblige 
I was an Atheist for many years until I began my Philosophy degree. In the course of that degree my views on almost everything have changed and one of the most notable changes is the move to belief in a prime mover.
The argument that swayed me is very simple:
Premise 1) Everything in the Universe is either impermanent, or depends upon something else for its existence. (things are born and they die, the universe tends towards entropy, nothing within the Universe lasts forever)
Premise 2) An infinite regress of finite, impermanent causes seems logically impossible.
Conclusion 1)Therefore there must a permanent, infinite first cause of everything in the Universe. (or the Universe is itself permanent/infinite but BBT suggests it had a beginning and is expanding so this seems implausible)
Premise 3) This first cause is empistemically hidden from us (we have no direct experience or knowledge of it)
Conclusion 2) Therefore we know nothing about it other than what is necessary for a first cause of the Universe.
Conclusion 3) Therefore there is a, largely mysterious, infinite, permanent, first cause of the Universe that I will call a Prime mover.
This belief does not entail Theism and I see many strong arguments against personal or interventionist Gods hence why I don't consider myself a Theist. It may be considered a form of Deism, or possibly a weak Atheism (or indeed a weak Theism although I would struggle to accept that label) but I'm unsure where to categorize it in those terms. Any questions?
I was an Atheist for many years until I began my Philosophy degree. In the course of that degree my views on almost everything have changed and one of the most notable changes is the move to belief in a prime mover.
The argument that swayed me is very simple:
Premise 1) Everything in the Universe is either impermanent, or depends upon something else for its existence. (things are born and they die, the universe tends towards entropy, nothing within the Universe lasts forever)
Premise 2) An infinite regress of finite, impermanent causes seems logically impossible.
Conclusion 1)Therefore there must a permanent, infinite first cause of everything in the Universe. (or the Universe is itself permanent/infinite but BBT suggests it had a beginning and is expanding so this seems implausible)
Premise 3) This first cause is empistemically hidden from us (we have no direct experience or knowledge of it)
Conclusion 2) Therefore we know nothing about it other than what is necessary for a first cause of the Universe.
Conclusion 3) Therefore there is a, largely mysterious, infinite, permanent, first cause of the Universe that I will call a Prime mover.
This belief does not entail Theism and I see many strong arguments against personal or interventionist Gods hence why I don't consider myself a Theist. It may be considered a form of Deism, or possibly a weak Atheism (or indeed a weak Theism although I would struggle to accept that label) but I'm unsure where to categorize it in those terms. Any questions?
“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
― Winston S. Churchill
― Winston S. Churchill
