Thus he concluded not that the world has existed from infinity, but the weaker thesis that the world has no beginning in time. For Kant, however, an empty time is possible, as announced in the Aesthetic. So if there is none, infinite time is filled up. Kant held that there are advantages and disadvantages to both sides. A first beginning, simple components of the world, uncaused causes, and a necessary being are all requisite for the interests of morality and religion.
Empiricism offers nothing in their support.
It also has the advantage of poplularity. People think they understand a first member of a series better than they understand an infinite series. And philosophers can pronounce on matters that are unfettered by the restrictions of experience. Empiricism does not appeal to the imagination in going about its way. They provide single starting points from which all else flows.