Editing Cosmological argument (section)

=== Identifying the first cause ===
Secular philosophers such as [[Michael Lou Martin|Michael Martin]] argue that a cosmological argument may establish the existence of a first cause, but falls short of identifying that cause as [[personhood|personal]], or as God as defined within [[classical theism|classical]] or other specific conceptions of [[theism]].<ref>{{cite book|last= Martin|first= Michael|title= Atheism: A Philosophical Justification|year= 1990|publisher= Temple University Press|page= 103|isbn= 978-0-87722-943-8}}</ref><ref name=Reichenbach />

Defenders of the argument note that most formulations, such as by Aquinas, Duns Scotus and Craig, employ conceptual analysis to establish the identity of the cause. In Aquinas's ''[[Summa Theologica]]'', the ''Prima Pars'' (First Part) is devoted predominantly to establishing the attributes of the cause, such as uniqueness, perfection and intelligence.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Aquinas |first1=Thomas |title=Summa Theologica: Prima Pars |url=https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1.htm |website=New Advent}}</ref> In Scotus's ''Ordinatio'', his metaphysical argument is the first component of the 'triple primacy' through which he characterises the first cause as a being with the attributes of maximal excellence.<ref name=SEPScot/>