Single Idea 22914

[catalogued under 7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / e. Being and nothing]

Full Idea

If there were nothing, then wouldn't it be just as good a question to ask why there is nothing rather than something? There are many ways for there to be something, but only one way for there to be nothing.

Gist of Idea

An equally good question would be why there was nothing instead of something

Source

Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 8 'Confronting')

Book Reference

Bardon,Adrian: 'Brief History of the Philosophy of Time' [OUP 2013], p.170


A Reaction

[He credits Nozick with the question] I'm not sure whether there being nothing counts as a 'way' of being. If something exists it seems to need a cause, but no cause seems required for the absence of things. Nice, though.

Related Idea

Idea 22905 Becoming disordered is much easier for a system than becoming ordered [Bardon]