Editing Cosmological argument (section)

=== Causal loop arguments ===

Some objections to the cosmological argument refer to the possibility of loops in the structure of [[causality|cause and effect]] that would avoid the need for a first cause. Gott and Li refer to the curvature of [[spacetime]] and [[closed timelike curve]]s as possible mechanisms by which the universe may bring about its own existence.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Can the Universe Create Itself? |first1=John Richard |last1=Gott III |first2=Li-Xin |last2=Li |journal=Physical Review D |volume=58 |issue=2 |date=1997 |page=023501 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.58.023501 |arxiv=astro-ph/9712344}}</ref> [[Richard Hanley]] contends that causal loops are neither logically nor physically impossible, remarking: "[In timed systems] the only possibly objectionable feature that all causal loops share is that coincidence is required to explain them."<ref>{{cite journal |title=No End in Sight: Causal Loops in Philosophy, Physics and Fiction |first=Richard |last=Hanley |journal=Synthese |volume=141 |date=2004 |pages=123–152 |doi=10.1023/B:SYNT.0000035847.28833.4f}}</ref>

Andrew Loke argues that there is insufficient evidence to postulate a causal loop of the type that would avoid a first cause. He proposes that such a mechanism would suffer from the problem of [[temporal paradox#Bootstrap paradox|vicious circularity]], rendering it [[metaphysics|metaphysically]] impossible.<ref>{{cite book |last=Loke |first=Andrew |chapter=Is There a Causal Loop Which Avoids a First Cause? |title=God and Ultimate Origins |date=2017a |publisher=Springer International Publishing AG |location=Switzerland |isbn=9783319861890 |pages=109–123}}</ref>