{"id":434,"date":"2014-03-30T21:58:21","date_gmt":"2014-03-30T21:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my-islam.info\/?p=434"},"modified":"2015-01-04T18:27:58","modified_gmt":"2015-01-04T18:27:58","slug":"the-cosmological-causal-argument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my-islam.info\/?p=434","title":{"rendered":"The cosmological causal argument"},"content":{"rendered":"

Download .pdf<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n

The argument is made up as follows:<\/p>\n

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  1. Everything that begins to exist has an external cause.<\/li>\n
  2. The universe began to exist.<\/li>\n
  3. Therefore, the universe has an external cause.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If the first two premises above are true, then the conclusion must necessarily be true.<\/p>\n

    If either premise is false, however, then the conclusion must be false, as well.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Everything that begins to exist has an external cause<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

    This premise is false if and only if there is something that begins to exist without an external cause, and this can only happen in two scenarios:<\/p>\n

    \n

    There is something that begins to exist with an internal cause<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

    In other words, something creates itself.<\/p>\n

    This is impossible, because in order to create itself it must already exist, but in order to be created, it cannot exist. In other words, it must exist and not exist at the same time, and this violates the law of non-contradiction and is, therefore, logically impossible. Or to put it in symbolic notation, where p<\/em> is existence, we would have,<\/p>\n

    \"Download<\/a><\/p>\n

    This cannot be true, because the law of non-contradiction states this proposition is false:<\/p>\n

    \"The<\/a><\/p>\n

    This self-creation problem means that the scenario is false.<\/p>\n

    \n

    There is something that begins to exist without a cause<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

    In other words, something is created by nothing.<\/p>\n

    This is also logically impossible, because nothing produces nothing or in Latin ex nihilo nihil fit<\/i>. Nothing means \u201cnot anything\u201d and, therefore, has no properties, and this includes the property to bring into existence or create anything.<\/p>\n

    The logical argument for the proposition that nothing produces nothing is as follows:<\/p>\n

      \n
        \n
      1. If anything can begin to exist, then it is possible that anything exists.<\/li>\n
      2. If not anything exists, then it is not possible that anything exists.<\/li>\n
      3. If it is not possible that anything exists, then anything cannot begin to exist.<\/li>\n
      4. Therefore, if not anything exists, anything cannot begin to exist or in other words, not anything cannot bring into existence anything.<\/li>\n
      5. Not anything is nothing.<\/li>\n
      6. Therefore, nothing cannot bring into existence anything.<\/li>\n
      7. Therefore, ex nihilo nihil fit<\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/ol>\n

        <\/p>\n

        \n

        Quantum mechanics<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

        However, a quantum physicist might argue that something can begin to exist without a cause, from nothing.<\/p>\n

        Quantum mechanics is a branch of physics concerned with atomic and subatomic systems. It developed because classical physics could not explain the behaviour of matter and radiation at extremely small scales. While classical physics can predict precisely how matter and radiation will behave, quantum mechanics generates only probabilities. Randomness is, therefore, a fundamental characteristic of quantum mechanics. In other words, at atomic scales, events appear to happen without a cause.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Radioactivity<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

        The example given is of radioactive decay of atoms.<\/p>\n

        Radioactivity is a property of certain atoms with unstable nuclei that spontaneously emit certain forms of electromagnetic energy like gamma rays, and certain subatomic particles like alpha and beta rays. Gamma rays are electromagnetic radiation like radio, light and X-rays. Alpha rays are nuclei of helium atoms, and beta rays are streams of electrons.<\/p>\n

        Atoms are made up of three subatomic particles:<\/p>\n

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        1. protons which are positively charged<\/li>\n
        2. neutrons which are neutral<\/li>\n
        3. electrons which are negatively charged<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          The mass of an atom is concentrated in its centre, which is called the nucleus, and this consists of protons and neutrons, except for hydrogen, which has only one proton and no neutron.<\/p>\n

          Whilst quantum mechanics can state precisely what proportion of atoms will decay, it cannot predict which particular nuclei will decay. On the assumption that all the nuclei are in an identical state in the beginning, the decay is, therefore, a random process.<\/p>\n

          However, this does not mean that the cause is unknown. It only means that the cause cannot be precisely traced to the effect. This is, therefore, a problem of measurement and is not evidence that something can begin to exist without a cause.<\/p>\n

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          Source of radioactive decay<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

          The source of radioactive decay lies in the way subatomic particles are bound together to form the nucleus of an atom.<\/p>\n

          As mentioned before, hydrogen is made up of a nucleus of one positively charged proton, which binds the sole negatively charged electron together to form the atom.<\/p>\n

          For atomic nuclei having more than one proton, the positive charges on the protons generate electrostatic repulsion. A nuclear force is, therefore, required to neutralise electrostatic repulsion and bind the nucleus together.<\/p>\n

          <\/p>\n

          This nuclear force:<\/p>\n