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The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 2008 59(4):675-708; doi:10.1093/bjps/axn032
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© The Author (2008). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Why the Big Bang Singularity Does Not Help the Kalam Cosmological Argument for Theism

J. Brian Pitts

History and Philosophy of Science Graduate Program, 309 O’Shaughnessy and Department of Philosophy, 100 Malloy Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

jpitts{at}nd.edu


  Abstract

The cosmic singularity provides negligible evidence for creation in the finite past, and hence theism. A physical theory might have no metric or multiple metrics, so a ‘beginning’ must involve a first moment, not just finite age. Whether one dismisses singularities or takes them seriously, physics licenses no first moment. The analogy between the Big Bang and stellar gravitational collapse indicates that a Creator is required in the first case only if a Destroyer is needed in the second. The need for and progress in quantum gravity and the underdetermination of theories by data make it difficult to take singularities seriously. The singularity exemplifies the sort of gap that is likely to be closed by scientific progress, obviating special divine action. The apparent irrelevance of cardinality to practices of counting infinite sets in classical field theory and Fourier analysis is noted.

  1. Introduction
  2. The Doctrine of Creation and Its Warrant
  3. Cardinality and Sizes of Infinity
  4. Modern Cosmology and Creation
  5. Tolerance or Intolerance toward Singularities?
  6. Leibniz against Incompetent Watchmaker?
  7. Induction from Earlier Theories' Breakdown?
  8. Stellar Collapse Implies Theistic Destroyer
  9. Stacking the Deck for GTR
  10. Quantum Gravity Tends to Resolve Singularities
  11. Vicious God-of-the-Gaps Character
  12. Fluctuating or Inaccessible Warrant
  13. Big Bang Cosmology Not Especially Congenial to Faith


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