The Cosmological Argument

Keith Hess PHIL 101: Introduction to Philosophy

Reading Questions: Clarke’s “The Cosmological Argument”

1. In section I, Clarke claims that something has always existed. What reason does he give for this? 2. In section II, Clarke claims that “either there has always existed some one unchangeable and independent being from which all other beings that are or ever were in the universe have received their original, or else there has been an infinite succession of changeable and dependent beings produced one from another in an endless progression without any original cause at all.” Why does he think it is an “express contradiction and impossibility” for there to be an infinite succession of dependent beings? 3. In section III, Clarke claims that the independent being that has existed from all of eternity is self- existent. How does he define the term “self-existent”?