Cosmological argument: Difference between revisions

A very popular but misinformed criticism of the cosmological argument brought forth by many contemporary [[atheists]] is the belief that the argument states, ''"everything has a cause; so the universe has a cause; so God exists."'' This is a very subtle change to the classic argument that is misleading, wholly made out of the air as a line of attack against [[theism]]. Critics use this fictitious stance through a process that reflects the practice of [[eisegesis]] in many ways. The reading into the cosmological argument allows the construction of an entire false argument that critics attempt to dismantle, following the straw-man [[logical fallacy]] that leads them to ask; ''"who/what created/caused God?"'' This is not a substantial philosophical question nor argument to advance however in the context of the cosmological argument. Atheists and general critics who take this route fundamentally address what they envisioned rather than what has been defended throughout the [[history]] of [[philosophy]]. The argument in reality states that; ''"everything that begins to exist has a cause."'' Classic theism posits that God is a non-contingent, timeless being thus did not begin to exist as implied by the question posed therefore renders the popular approach of attack by critics useless. Not only are academic atheist scientists and philosophers of prominence like Richard Dawkins or Daniel Dennet guilty of trying to use such lines of criticism, there are many lay who read their popular works and that take part in public debate and discourse as well. Many uninformed critics setup against the cosmological argument of [[natural theology]] generally consider their critique of the argument as devastating but have not addressed what the argument is and actually self-refute themselves. Professional philosophers are taken to task and discredited by defenders of the cosmological argument like Edward Feser in writing or in debate by William Lane Craig. Robin Le Poidevin and Daniel Dennett have articulated within writings attempts against the cosmological argument, ignorant of its history of development. Edward Feser is especially taken aback by these popular level works by Dennett among others and ends up calling them "intellectually dishonest" and what he coined as "meta-sophistry".<ref>[http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2010/09/meta-sophistry.html Meta-sophistry] Edward Feser blog</ref>