ABSTRACT
The cosmological proof, as an argument from imperfection, must also be contrasted with the argument from design. The argument from design too rests on experience, but on a more rich and diversified experience, on experience of perfections in the world. If the cosmological argument, in its many forms, were solely of historical interest, one might pass it by in respectful silence. The classical exposition of the cosmological argument may be found in the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas, in the famous five ways of proving the existence of God. Metaphysical arguments, as was pointed out earlier, may look very different within the context of a whole philosophy; but if those one have considered are fair samples, it is hard to resist the conclusion at least the provisional conclusion that the existence of God cannot be demonstrated by pure metaphysics.
