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A Bayesian formulation of the kalam cosmological argument

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2014

CALUM MILLER
CALUM MILLER*
Affiliation:
St Hugh's College, University of Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 6LE, UK e-mail: calum.miller@oxon.org
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Abstract

There has been a trend within natural theology to present arguments for theism deductively, such that at least one of the premises is likely to be extremely controversial. For those arguments with less controversial premises, the conclusion is usually something short of theism. On these grounds, some have employed probabilistic reasoning to revive classical arguments – to use less controversial premises in achieving a conclusion directly relevant to whether theism is true or not. Here, I formulate the kalam cosmological argument in Bayesian terms, and argue that doing so renders many objections levelled against it obsolete.

Type
Articles
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 50 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 521 - 534
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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