The cosmological argument in the modern polemic of theism and atheism (debate of J. Haldane and J. Smart)

The paper is devoted to the analysis of polemic between theistic and atheistic scholars on the cosmological argument. The arguments of each of the parties (“for” and “against”) are analyzed. It is concluded that the cosmological argument gets more and more sophisticated statements in the modern polemic of theism and atheism. The cosmological argument is important because it shows that the theistic worldview at least does not contradict the scientific worldview. Thinking about the cosmological argument raises important philosophical questions such as the nature of time, infinity, the universe. The controversy of Smart and Haldane presented by us from the angle of consideration of the cosmological argument shows that theism in this debate looks much more substantive than atheism, since Smart only criticizes theism, not offering a possible atheistic answer or putting forward a hypothesis that cannot be empirically tested.