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title: "Lawrence Krauss on The Kalam cosmological argument"
description: "Krauss challenges the Kalam by arguing that quantum mechanics undermines the premise that everything which begins to exist has a cause."
canonical: https://opendoubt.com/people/lawrence-krauss/on/kalam-cosmological-argument
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# Lawrence Krauss on The Kalam cosmological argument

> Krauss challenges the Kalam by arguing that quantum mechanics undermines the premise that everything which begins to exist has a cause.

Position

# Lawrence Krauss on _The Kalam cosmological argument_

Argues againstTheoretical physicist

Krauss challenges the Kalam by arguing that quantum mechanics undermines the premise that everything which begins to exist has a cause.

Krauss has directly challenged Craig's Kalam argument in debate and in print. His primary objection targets premise one: quantum mechanics demonstrates that events can occur without causes. Virtual particles pop into existence from the quantum vacuum without any identifiable cause. If causeless events are physically possible, the Kalam's first premise is false.

On premise two, Krauss argues that 'the universe began to exist' is a misleading description of what Big Bang cosmology actually tells us. The Big Bang describes the expansion of space from a hot, dense state — not the creation of the universe from nothing. Time itself may have begun at the Big Bang, making the question 'what caused the universe?' as incoherent as 'what is north of the North Pole?'

Krauss is also critical of Craig's conceptual analysis of the conclusion, arguing that even if the universe had a cause, nothing in physics suggests that cause was personal, conscious, or divine.

Key quotes

> “In quantum gravity, universes can, and indeed are predicted to, parsing nothing. Nothing is unstable.”

Continue exploring

[

Lawrence Krauss

Full profile — positions, quotes, and key moments.

](/people/lawrence-krauss)[

The Kalam cosmological argument

The full argument — stated fairly, then answered.

](/arguments/kalam-cosmological-argument)

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