Stephen William Hawking is arguably the most famous scientist as of the 21st century. He is an iconic figure in both the fields of cosmology and theoretical physics. Hawing relates to all people, ranging from religious to non-religious people, and has even involved non-scientists into his grasp. Stephen hawking’s worldview and personal theories have had a positive impact on the science and non-science world, and have also contributed to providing direction in the field of science that may one day answer the questions in relation to our existence and purpose. Hawking believes that the universe is a closed system, meaning there are no supernatural beings and that everything consists of matter. Having this belief makes him a naturalist. This …show more content…
Stephen Hawking was born on the 8th of January 1942, in Oxford England. He is one of the few people diagnosed ALS, a neuromuscular disease. This diagnosis has consequently led to him being unable to perform any physical movement and significantly he is unable to speak. Hawking was first diagnosed with the disease at the age of 21 during his time of study at the University of Cambridge. At first Hawing’s speech began to slur, and then later began to experience random moments of paralysis. Immediately after being diagnosed with ALS, hawking was expected to not live past his 25th birthday. Knowing he had very little time to live, Hawking felt he had not contributed much to humanity, he felt his purpose was bigger than himself. Hawking had challenged himself to find a meaning in his life with the time he had left to …show more content…
It is reasonable to ask who or what created the universe, but if the answer is God, then the question has merely been deflected to that of who created God. In this view it is accepted that some entity exists that needs no creator, and that entity is called God. This is known as the first-cause argument for the existence of God. We claim, however, that it is possible to answer these questions purely within the realm of science, and without invoking any divine beings.” (Hawking and Mlodinow, The Grand
Thomas Aquinas, a leading scholar of the Middle Ages, argued that “Everything in the universe has a cause. Trace those causes back and there must have been a First Cause that triggered everything else. God is that First Cause.” This was known as his “First Cause” argument.
The controversial topic involving the existence of God has been the pinnacle of endless discourse surrounding the concept of religion in the field of philosophy. However, two arguments proclaim themselves to be the “better” way of justifying the existence of God: The Cosmological Argument and the Mystical Argument. While both arguments attempt to enforce strict modus operandi of solidified reasoning, neither prove to be a better way of explaining the existence of God. The downfall of both these arguments rests on commitment of fallacies and lack of sufficient evidence, as a result sabotaging their validity in the field of philosophy and faith.
Hawking is still alive and has been living with his disease for fifty-two years now (“Stephen Hawking Biography”, n.d.). In doing research as to how Hawking has been able to live so long with this disease, I came to the conclusion that there is not a reason. An article written by Terrence McCoy (2015) in the Washington Post described his lengthy life as “extraordinary” and “extremely rare”. This is further indication that his interminable existence is supported by pure luck. What an incredible coincidence that such an important man was able to withstand the consequences of a highly fatal disease. Stephen Hawking, the Hawking family, and the rest of the world are, whether they know it or not, thankful for this one man’s extreme luck. His contributions to scientific knowledge and his perseverance will be forever
Throughout history there has always been discussions and theories as to how the universe came to be. Where did it come from? How did it happen? Was it through God that the universe was made? These philosophies have been discussed and rejected and new theories have been created. I will discuss three theories from our studies, Kalam’s Cosmological Argument, Aquinas’s Design Argument, and Paley’s Design Argument. In this article, I will discuss the arguments and what these arguments state as their belief. A common belief from these three theories is that the universe is not infinite, meaning that the universe was created and has a beginning date. Each believe that there was a God, deity, or master creator that created the universe for a reason. They also believe that
Dr. William Lane Craig supports the idea of existence of God. He gives six major arguments, in order to defend his position. The first argument is quite fare, Craig says that God is the best reason of existence of everything. He gives the idea, that the debates between all the people, cannot reach the compromise, because the best explanation of the reasons of existence of everything is God, and nothing can be explained without taking Him into consideration. The second argument of Craig is from a cosmological point of view: he says that the existence of the universe is the best proof of the existence of God. Because, the process of the creation of the universe is so ideally harmonious, that it seems impossible to appear accidentally. The third argument is about the fine tuning of the universe. The universe is designed in such a way that people always have aim of life, and the life of people and the nature are interconnected. The fourth argument of Dr. Craig is about the morality: God is the best explanation of the existence of the morality and moral values in people’s lives. The...
Life is not always what you hope it to be, and love hope and faith is needed to experience a fulfilling life. The main character Martin in the memoir “Ghost Boy”, written by Martin Pistorius, was living a normal life, and then one day his life changed drastically. Martin was diagnosed with an illness that was unknown. He gradually began to lose control of his body, and became a mute paraplegic. In the film, The Theory of Everything, directed by James Marsh, the main character Stephen Hawking lived the extraordinary, when Stephen got mycotrophic lateral sclerosis he gradually started to lose his balance until he couldn’t walk at all. Stephen was told that he would only live two years, but he lived a long
In the article “On Being an Atheist”, McCloskey talks about why there does not need to be a cause to the universe and how it began. But, according to the book “Philosophy of Religion”, by Evans and Manis, both authors suggest the idea of ...
McCloskey begins by addressing the cosmological argument. He proposes that the existence of the world itself does not give reason to believe in a necessarily existing being. McCloskey believes there is a lack of evidence to show the world had a cause and that God was that cause. However, Evans and Manis suggest there are beings in this world that are unaware of how they came to exist. These beings are often contingent on another being. Th...
Modern science can explain many things. However, one of the things is yet to prove and will most likely never prove, is: why was everything was created? This is where God steps in. He is the only one who could have created the universe. Thus it can be concluded that the world could not have been created by chance. It is extremely complex and ordered, so much so, that it but must be the product of intelligent design. This is God.
The claims of rationality and the so-called scientific approach of the atheists and agnostics have been debunked. In the coming pages we shall see that both in the creation of the universe, in things created within the universe and in the creation of living beings, an intelligently designed process is going on, and we shall demonstrate that the objections of agnostics and skeptics to this assertion are merely delusions.
reality normally consists of two parts: a) A set of local laws that are obeyed
Humans can never know for the certain why the universe was created or what caused it but, we can still create arguments and theories to best explain what might have created the universe. The cosmological argument is another idea to prove the existence of god. Many philosophers debate wheatear the cosmological argument is valid. The cosmological argument starts off quite simply: whatever exists must come from something else. Nothing is the source of its own existences, nothing is self-creating []. The cosmological argument states at some point, the cause and effect sequence must have a beginning. This unexpected phenomenal being is god. According to the argument, god is the initial start of the universe as we know it. Though nothing is self-creating cosmological believers say god is the only being the is self –created. Aquinas, an Italian philosopher, defended the argument and developed the five philosophical proofs for the existence of god knows as, the “Five Ways”.[]. In each “way” he describes his proof how god fills in the blanks of the unexplainable. The first way simply states that, things in motion must be put in motion by something. The second was is efficient because, nothing brings its self into existence. The third is, possibility and necessity [!]. Aqunhias’ has two more ‘ways’ but for the purpose of this essay I won’t be focusing on them heavily. These ways have started philosophers to debate and question his arguments ultimately made the cosmological argument debatable. The cosmological argument is however not a valid argument in explaining the existence of god because the conclusions do not logically follow the premises.
The cosmological argument is the existence of God, arguing that the possibility of each existing and the domain collected of such elements in this universe. The inquiry is that 'for what reason does anything exist? Why as opposed to nothing? In this paper, I will explain for what reason does everything need cause? Why is God thought to be the principal cause?
... it cannot be explained scientifically, as this would imply the existence of antecedent determining conditions. Because there are no prior determining conditions, the cause of the universe must be personal and uncaused, for how else could a timeless cause give rise to a temporal effect? Moreover, the cause must transcend both matter and time to create matter and time. Finally, in order to create the universe ex nihilo, this cause must be enormously powerful, if not omnipotent. One is warranted in concluding that therefore, God exists.
A field of study that Stephen Hawking is known for is cosmology. Cosmology is the metaphysical study of the origin and nature of the universe. A brief synopsis of Hawking indicates that, according to Hawking, "there is 'no place for a creator', that God does not exist." In his quantum cosmology, he indicates, "there would be no singularities at which the laws of science broke down and no edge of space-time at which one would have to appeal to God or some new law to set the boundary conditions for space-time . . . The universe would be completely self-contained and not affected by anything outside itself. It would neither be created nor destroyed. It would just BE . . . What place, then, for a creator?"(Smith 2005)Theists have argued against this position, specifically, "that even if Hawking's physical laws are true, that fact does not entail that the God of classical theism does not exist or even disconfirm the classical theistic hypothesis." It would appear that Hawking did not inhibit himself to simply one theory when asking the question where did we come from and why. Rather, he points out that "if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason for then we would know the mind of God."(Smith 2005)