  The Friedman universe is re-examined in a context that is non-standard only
in that the properties of matter are postulated in the form of an action
principle. Applications to equilibrium configurations of ideal stars have
already been reported. In this paper we apply the same theory to a fresh
examination of the Friedman universe. The results agree with standard theory in
the case of low densities. A suggestion is made to replace "vacuum energy" by
"external force".
