| | Consequently, [[atheism|atheistic]] [[cosmologist]]s assert that ''"there must be no favoured location in the universe, no centre, no boundary; all must see the universe alike"''{{#tag:ref|cf.[[Cosmological principle]]|group=note}}. In order to ensure this situation, they postulate spatial isotropy and spatial homogeneity, which is way of stating that the universe must be pretty much alike everywhere and in all directions. In their reasoning, they use [[circular argument]] hence claim that a favoured position is intolerable because it represents a discrepancy with the theory that postulates homogeneity. Then, in order to restore homogeneity, and "to escape the horror of a ''unique position''", the departures from ''uniformity'', which are introduced by the ''recession factors'', must be from their perspective compensated by the second term in the [[Gravitational field equations|Einstein's field equations]] representing the effects of [[spatial curvature]]. | | Consequently, [[atheism|atheistic]] [[cosmologist]]s assert that ''"there must be no favoured location in the universe, no centre, no boundary; all must see the universe alike"''{{#tag:ref|cf.[[Cosmological principle]]|group=note}}. In order to ensure this situation, they postulate spatial isotropy and spatial homogeneity, which is way of stating that the universe must be pretty much alike everywhere and in all directions. In their reasoning, they use [[circular argument]] hence claim that a favoured position is intolerable because it represents a discrepancy with the theory that postulates homogeneity. Then, in order to restore homogeneity, and "to escape the horror of a ''unique position''", the departures from ''uniformity'', which are introduced by the ''recession factors'', must be from their perspective compensated by the second term in the [[Gravitational field equations|Einstein's field equations]] representing the effects of [[spatial curvature]]. |
| − | The kinds of universes that would be compatible with these principles are belonging to the set of so called [[Relativistic cosmology|relativistic cosmological models]]<ref name="Observational Approach">{{cite web | + | The kinds of universes that would be compatible with these principles are belonging to the set of so-called [[Relativistic cosmology|relativistic cosmological models]]<ref name="Observational Approach">{{cite web |