Overview
- Puts forward an impressive and original argument for the First Cause of time
- Addresses key objections to the Kalam Cosmological Argument and Causal Principle, as no other text has done to date
- Taps into the groundswell of interest in the topics of New Atheism and questions of our ultimate origin
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion (PFPR)
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book develops a novel argument which combines the Kalam with the Thomistic Cosmological Argument. It approaches an ongoing dispute concerning whether there is a First Cause of time from a radically new point of view, namely by demonstrating that there is such a First Cause without requiring the controversial arguments against concrete infinities and against traversing an actual infinite (although the book presents original defenses of these arguments as well). This book also develops a novel philosophical argument for the Causal Principle, namely that ‘everything that begins to exist has a cause’, and offers a detailed discussion on whether a First Cause of time can be avoided by a causal loop. It also addresses epistemological issues related to the Cosmological Argument which have been relatively neglected by recent publications, and demonstrates (contra Hawking et al) the continual relevance and significance of philosophy for answering ultimate questions.
Reviews
“This book discusses the Kalam Cosmological Argument (KCA) as popularised by William Lane Craig. The author suggests modifications and rebuttals against counter-arguments to it. … This is a good book if you have heard of the KCA … in comprehensive detail.” (Gavin Merrifield, Science & Christian Belief, Vol. 31 (1), 2019)
“Professor Loke has rapidly become a leading thinker in metaphysics and philosophy of religion. His body of writings simply must be considered if one is going to treat a relevant topic appropriately. God and Ultimate Origins is no exception to the rule. In it, Loke skillfully interacts with all the relevant issues on the way to formulating a new cosmological argument that combines key features from the Thomist and Kalam arguments while adding his own twists. This is an exceptional book. I highly recommend it.” (JP Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Biola University, USA, and co-editor of The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology)“Loke brings together a wealth of resources to tackle the cosmological argument…The reader will find that Loke effectively interacts with recent literature in a dialogical and persuasively analytic fashion.” (Dr Bruce Reichenbach, Professor of Philosophy, Augsburg College and author of ‘Cosmological Argument’ in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Andrew Ter Ern Loke is Research Assistant Professor in Faith and Global Engagement at the University of Hong Kong. He is the author of The Origins of Divine Christology (forthcoming), A Kryptic Model of the Incarnation (2014), and various articles in leading international journals in philosophy, science and religion, and theology.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: God and Ultimate Origins
Book Subtitle: A Novel Cosmological Argument
Authors: Andrew Ter Ern Loke
Series Title: Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57547-6
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-86189-0Published: 17 May 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-57547-6Published: 20 September 2017
Series ISSN: 2634-6176
Series E-ISSN: 2634-6184
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 200
Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations
Topics: Philosophy of Religion, Ontology, Epistemology