... something for nothing can come from nothing' (Aristotle)). The key ideas are 'contingency' and 'necessity'. To say of something that it exists is to also point to other factors that have influenced (and caused) it to exist. For example, to say that the computer I am currently using to write these words on exists it to say that the materials, machinery and people by which is constructed ... movement in the sense of change of quality or quantity. According to Aquinas, an object only moved when an external force was applied to it. Aquinas wasn't arguing that the universe necessarily had a ...

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• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... must not be." With the possibility that one of the earlier stages (stage 2) of the inductive argument has considerable weaknesses - the latest observation (principle of the conservation of energy) may well show that the previous observations have led us to the wrong conclusion, and therefore the next stages and overall argument are undermined. Leibniz (1646-1716) explained the argument according to the principle of sufficient reason. Assuming that the Big Bang is correct the universe will continue to ... , than the universe depending on an uncaused God. The universe and time cease to exi...

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• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate