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Full Idea
Nothing can be thought of, imagined, spoken of, and therefore it is.
Gist of Idea
Nothing exists, as thinkable and expressible
Source
Georg W.F.Hegel (Science of Logic [1816], I.i.i.C.1 Rem 3 p.101), quoted by A.W. Moore - The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics 07.4
Book Ref
Moore,A.W.: 'The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics' [CUP 2013], p.172
A Reaction
This sounds like Meinong on circular squares. Does this mean that the negation of every truth also somehow exists? I struggle with this idea. Lewis Carroll nailed it.
| 445 | The realm of necessary non-existence cannot be explored, because it is unknowable [Parmenides] |
| 1503 | There is no such thing as nothing [Parmenides] |
| 18933 | Not-Being obviously doesn't exist, and the five modes of Being are all impossible [Gorgias, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 20902 | Being does not exist more than non-being [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20904 | The non-existent exists as much as the existent, because it has causal powers [Democritus] |
| 11278 | What does 'that which is not' refer to? [Plato] |
| 24029 | Among the simples are the graspable negations, such as rest and instants [Descartes] |
| 21762 | To grasp an existence, we must consider its non-existence [Hegel, by Houlgate] |
| 21977 | Nothing exists, as thinkable and expressible [Hegel] |
| 22919 | A thing which makes no difference seems unlikely to exist [Le Poidevin] |
| 14393 | The totality state is the most plausible truthmaker for negative existential truths [Merricks] |
| 23538 | Nothingness only exists in consciousness [Berardi] |
| 12408 | Sartre to Waitress: Coffee with no cream, please... [Sommers,W] |