The debate on the cosmological proof in contemporary philosophy of religion

This study deals with the current interpretations of cosmological proof, which is one of the main problems of philosophy of religion. In the last century, the philosophical implications of scientific developments, especially in the field of cosmology, are largely discussed in the center of cosmological proof. Theistic explanations try to revise the classical versions of the cosmological proof with some arguments, arguing that scientific data support the existence of God. Non-theistic explanations, on the other hand, criticize the current versions of the cosmological proof in many respects and argue that no valid evidence for the existence of God has been presented. In the light of current scientific data, these debates on the existence of God are examined under the title of The Debate on the Cosmological Proof in Contemporary Philosophy of Religion. The introduction part gives a general introduction of the thesis and includes some explanations needed in our study. Chapter one outlines the cosmological proof and the history of science. In general, it tries to reveal the problematic in today‟s cosmological proof debate with explanations on the scientific data of the last century. In our study, the boundaries are drawn within the framework of three current versions of the cosmological proof: kalâm, contingency, and the Weak Principle of Sufficient Reason interpretation. The second part examines the kalâm version of the cosmological proof within the framework of thinkers who do not come to the fore much in current debates, but which we consider important. The third chapter is about Robert Koons‟ "A New Look at", which updates the contingency version of the cosmological proof. The fourth chapter examines the version of the Weak Principle of Sufficient Reason, which was put forward by updating the Leibnizian cosmological proof. Recently, there are many independent studies focusing on these issues. Therefore, Graham Oppy, who showed himself with his strong criticisms against the cosmological proof, which was reinterpreted in the light of current scientific data in order to ensure originality, was kept in the foreground in all sections. Many determinations were made as a result of the examinations in the sections in which we included the views of many theist and atheist thinkers. In the light of these deduction, in the conclusion part, the convincing power of the current interpretations and criticisms of the cosmological proof has been evaluated from a philosophical point of view.