CAUSAL PRINCIPLE: Does Everything That Begins to Exist Have a Cause? | Spencer Case, Ph. D.

🎙️ Does everything that begins to exist have a cause? Can the first premise of the Kalam Cosmological Argument be defended? In this episode of NT Podcast, I am joined by Dr. Spencer Case (Bowling Green State University) to discuss his influential paper: 📄 "A Limited Defense of the Kalam Cosmological Argument." Dr. Case is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Philosophy whose research focuses on ethics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion. Together, we explore one of the most debated questions in philosophy and cosmology: Can we justify the causal principle? 📌 In this interview: 🔹 Why is it only a "limited" defense of the Kalam Argument? 🔹 Different versions of the Causal Principle 🔹 Does everything that begins to exist really have a cause? 🔹 Is the composition fallacy a successful objection? 🔹 Can we infer properties of the material universe from ordinary material objects? 🔹 What is ontological inertia? 🔹 Graham Oppy's criticisms of William Lane Craig's defense of Kalam 🔹 David Hume on causation and induction 🔹 Simultaneous causation and the beginning of the universe 🔹 Does the universe itself require a cause? Whether you're interested in philosophy of religion, metaphysics, cosmology, the existence of God, or the Kalam Cosmological Argument, this conversation offers a careful and balanced examination of one of philosophy's most important debates. 💬 What do you think? Can the first premise of the Kalam Argument be defended? Let us know in the comments! 👍 If you enjoyed this episode: ✅ Like the video ✅ Subscribe to NT Podcast ✅ Share it with friends interested in philosophy and theology ❤️ Support NT Podcast on Patreon: Patreon: theologicaquest 🔗 All my links (Podcast, Social Media & More): https://linktr.ee/theologicaquest Biography: Dr. Spencer Case is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2018. His research focuses primarily on the nature of normativity, ethics, epistemology, and the philosophy of religion, while also extending to war ethics, political philosophy, and broader questions in analytic philosophy. Before joining Bowling Green State University, Dr. Case served as an international research fellow at Wuhan University in China (2019–2021), where he witnessed the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Army, having completed deployments to Iraq (2005–2006) and Afghanistan (2009–2010) during the Global War on Terrorism. Dr. Case is the co-author, with Matt Lutz, of Is Morality Real? A Debate (Routledge) and is currently working on Why It's Ok to Be Patriotic. He is also co-editing Front Line Philosophy, an anthology of essays by philosophers with military experience. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Case is a writer and podcaster with a broad interest in philosophy, history, and politics. His accessible philosophical essays have appeared in public philosophy outlets such as 1000-Word Philosophy, making complex philosophical ideas available to a wider audience. 📖 Read Dr. Spencer Case's article discussed in this episode: "A Limited Defense of the Kalam Cosmological Argument" https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DCfR... 📺 Follow Dr. Spencer Case on YouTube: 🔔 ‪@Micro-Digressions‬ #causation #cause #causal #principle #universe #philosophy