Introducing the Quest for an Explanation

Abstract

AbstractContemporary formulations of the Teleological Argument (TA) and Kalām Cosmological Argument (KCA) involve considerations of both philosophy and scientific cosmology. Against scientism, cosmologist George Ellis observes, with respect to the criteria for a good scientific theory (internal consistency, explanatory power, etc.), that ‘these criteria are philosophical in nature in that they themselves cannot be proven to be correct by any experiment. Rather their choice is based on past experience combined with philosophical reflection’. In view of the importance of philosophical considerations, cosmologists should not merely construct models of the universe without considering the philosophical problems associated with certain models, such as problems concerning the traversing of an actual infinite and the violation of the Causal Principle. This book develops these arguments in engagement with modern science. Against the New Verificationism proposed by Ladyman et al., I show that mathematics and the laws of logic are both necessary for science and yet also knowable a priori. The necessity of the laws of logic implies that the conclusion of a deductively valid argument from true premises must be true, and I shall show in this book that the KCA-TA is such an argument. I note that a number of objections to the TA and KCA can be addressed by combining them, and I provide a new formulation of the KCA-TA.