One argument, three moves — Aquinas’ climb from contingency to a necessary God, the attacks of Hume and Russell, and the fight over what it all proves.
Why is there something rather than nothing — and must the answer be God?
Each lesson lines up on its own axis — the climb from contingent things to the uncaused necessary being, the criticisms ranked from deflected to fatal, and the verdicts from proof to nothing at all. Pick a lesson, then tap a position to see what it claims and where it's strong or weak.
Tap a circle — or use Tab and Enter — to explore each position.
Top answers don't treat the three lessons separately. Three ideas run through all of them — spot the thread and you're writing at the top of the mark scheme.
Contingent things → caused necessary beings → ONE uncaused necessary being. Way 3 climbs it; every criticism tries to cut a rung.
Aquinas stops at the necessary being; Russell stops at the brute fact; Hare says your blik decides. That is the whole argument in one question.
Every criticism has a reply, and every reply a rejoinder. The essay-winning move is to adjudicate — not just to list.
The unit splits into three lessons: the argument, the attacks, and the verdict. Together they are one unfolding case about when explanation may stop.
Everything for the unit, in one place. Open each lesson's deck, booklet and podcast, and use the Philosopher Companion across all three.
LINKS list near the bottom, and paste each SharePoint share link once. Buttons with no link show as “Link not set”.
Use your resources in this order. The Philosopher Companion is where you learn to plan both question types.
One podcast per lesson — a teacher and student rebuild the argument and weigh it to a judgement. Annotate as you listen.
Read the given text, write the key claims of each step or criticism in your own words, then decide the strength and weakness you'd give it.
In the Companion: match each term to its meaning, then use it in a sentence. RAG-rate the mastery checklist with the three faces.
Use the Companion frameworks — including the real AQA 2020 question and the 2019/2023 dialogues. Never evaluate what you haven't first explained.
A full review of The Cosmological Argument — Way 3, the criticisms of Hume and Russell, and the proof & faith debate. Best watched before you start revising, then again to check your recall.
Teacher: paste the YouTube link in the VIDEO_URL line near the bottom of this file. The player then appears here automatically.
Flip a card to check yourself. Switch between key terms (term → meaning) and positions (position → claim, strength & weakness), and filter by lesson.