why is there something rather than nothing leibniz

"Why is there anything at all?" (or "why is there something rather than nothing?") is a question about the reason for basic existence which has been raised or commented on by a range of philosophers, including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger, the latter of which called it "the fundamental question of metaphysics . Why Is There Something Rather than Nothing? Science explains why one physical state causes another, but it cannot explain where those physical states came from, or why there is some physical states rather than no physical states. If, as the theist maintains, God is a being who exists of necessity, his existence explains why there is something rather than nothing. The explanation he gave was that God wanted to create a universe - the best one possible - which makes God the simple reason that there is something rather than nothing. Why Is There Something Instead of Nothing? | Catholic Answers The reason that anything exists and there is something rather than nothing, is because God made it. Why is there something rather than nothing? Nothing is what rocks think of. Source: De rerum originatione radicali (1697) Bruno Marchal in discussion list (2011) Reasoned study of the mysteries of existence has brought us to a coherent theory of why there is something rather than nothing. Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence. Perhaps this is no coincidence, for Leibniz was also the first philosopher to really ask why there is something rather than nothing. / René Descartes -- The nature of God: do we have free will? . Why-questions request a type of explanation and this is often thought to include a deductive component. (Philosophers are up there with NASA officials when it comes to a weakness for acronyms.) I then pivot an improved cosmological argument on Gödel's ontological proof. Human beings live on the temporal physical plane, and accept the reality of a time-bound existence, so we all have difficulty comprehending a timeless one. It has real existence. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, existing. Atheists say they have the answer to why there is something rather than nothing—the nothing created it! than nothing contingent? In challenging this principle, Grünbaum challenges Leibniz, who first formulates the principle. . The supposition of "nothing," devoid of any relation to anything whatsoever, fails to provide any grip for thought, rendering the enterprise not futile, but unintelligible. This led Leibniz to the idea that God setup both to necessarily agree before hand. Another question that is of a more recent origin is the following question (henceforth called the Categorial 'estion): why is there something concrete rather than nothing concrete? Nothing doesn't result in something. So in a sense, the reason that there is something rather than nothing is that existence is something eternal - things have always existed. There is a good quote that I thought I could share with you regarding this question: What is existence made of? From Leibniz to Krauss philosophers and scientists have raised the question as to why there is something rather than nothing. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Check out this Reasonable Faith original video on the existence of God! The dual notion of nothing we have is first, nothing as privation of goodness or contradiction with what is good, and second, nothing as not being actualized. Some have thought it unanswerable and therefore meaningless. Leibniz proposed an argument for the existence of God that answers the fundamental question "Why is there something rather than nothing?". If that which does not exist can be a cause, then nothing can produce something, which is a contradiction. Nothing doesn't do anything. (That nothing is simpler and easier than something is the premise from section 7 of the Principles.) (Leibniz, The Principles of Nature and Grace, Based on Reason, 1714) Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz 1646- 1716 1 Understanding the question 2 Leibniz's answer The Primordial Existential Question Based on Aquinas's argument from contingency (five ways). Since nothing does not exist, there was something and that is why the universe exists. 8 Ontology Studies 9, 2009 Adolf Grünbaum 1. What I want to challenge is the "easier" part. Ordinary usage of the word "nothing" thus shows that "there could be nothing" is not a genuine, intelligible claim — it can only apply to parts of what exists and not to the whole of reality. With classical logic in the background only trivial answers are forthcoming. from Leibniz, "The Principles of Nature and Grace, Based on Reason" (1714): . Leibniz thought that the fact that there is something and not nothing requires an explanation. It is not merely a name for a certain relation. Then I realize that if there were nothing I . In fact, the two questions are fundamentally connected. The reason that anything exists and there is something rather than nothing, is because God made it. Why-questions request a type of explanation and this is often thought to include a deductive component. Why is there something rather than nothing? Generally attributed to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, one of the history's most intelligent men, this question has been used by many people with various ideas about what the answer to this question should be, starting with Leibniz and down (and I do mean "down") to Richard Dawkins. Ancient thinkers sought the answer from superstitious beliefs and modern thinkers sought . Without God creating, nothing would exist. . With classical logic in the background only trivial . Modern physics suggests that the universe can exist all by itself as a self-contained system, without anything external to create or sustain it. To call these realities "nothing" is at best misleading, bound to mislead and confuse laypeople, and at worst a deliberate misrepresentation of science. / Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz -- Faith: why should we believe? Why is there Something Rather Than Nothing? 400400. In a sequel of 1714, he famously asked more generally: " Why is there something rather than nothing? In a well-known essay of 17l4, the philosopher G. F. W. Leibniz raised, in effect, the following question: 'Why is there a universe at all, rather than just This is the question Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) posed in regards to the origin of the universe as a part of his argument for the existence of God. "The first question that should rightly be asked is, 'Why is there something rather than nothing?'". Leszek Kolakowski is currently senior research fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. Even so, the idea of a First Cause, a Prime Mover, does give us a profound answer that explains why something exists rather than nothing: Recommend to friends. The question of why there is something rather than nothing seems useful in terms of looking at that grandeur of it, but really in the end it seems a little unhelpful for other topics that really matter. One example of a grouping together or unit whole/unity is a book. But by the same reasoning, Leibniz concludes there are no vacuums in the actual world: more is better than less. 'Why is there something rather than nothing?'.. Further, assuming that things must exist, it must be possible to give a reason why they should exist as they do and not otherwise. / William of Ockham -- God, the world and our minds: how can we achieve certainty? It is a real entity, a substance. WHY IS THERE SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING? The explanation he gave was that - God wanted to create a universe - the best one possible - which makes God the simple reason that there is something rather than nothing. Abstract From Leibniz to Krauss philosophers and scientists have raised the question as to why there is something rather than nothing (henceforth, the Ques-tion). 27. But there might not be an absolute answer to why it exists. His conclusion was that the answer to the question brings us face-to-face with the absolute necessity for the existence of God. Leibniz says that the actual world must have something rather than nothing because the actual world must be the best of all possible worlds, and something is better than nothing. Indeed, the originator of the question "Why is there something rather than nothing?" (Leibniz, 1714) said "I do not conceive of any reality at all as without genuine unity." (Leibniz, 1687). There is nothing higher than the absolute being, and so nothing is just privation of what brings something into actuality - relative goodness. With this answer, we can then respond to Leibniz's famous question: Why is there something rather than nothing? The question 'Why is there something rather than nothing?' is based on two fundamental suppositions viz. The eighteenth-century philosopher G.W. extraordinarily smart person) and logician who said the most fundamental question of all was precisely that, why is there something rather than nothing. The German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz points out that there is this fact, namely that "there is something instead of nothing", and from this said that we need a sufficient reason to explain this fact. Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing? Premise 1: Everything that exists has an explanation of Its existence. Strangely, it hasn't, or at least it has . If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz quote: Why is there anything at all rather than nothing whatsoever? Even so, the idea of a First Cause, a Prime Mover, does give us a profound answer that explains why something exists rather than nothing: ".. For nothing is simpler and easier than something," Leibniz went on to say.' About the "simpler" part of it, there will be no occa-sion to dispute here. . ‚ese were the questions originally asked by Leibniz (1714). Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz — 'Why is there something rather than nothing?' . In the case of 'The Question' in focus, the . Introduction In his 1697 article "On the Ultimate Origination of Things," Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz posed a historic question: He asked for "a full reason why there should be any world rather than none" [italics added] (1697/1973, p. 136). Grünbaum addressed a famous and simple question: "Why is there something rather than nothing?" He called it the Primordial Existential Question, or PEQ for short. " (italics in original). The question of "Why is there something rather than nothing?" has puzzled various great thinkers including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, Stephen Hawking, and so on. Kołakowski 2008 , 144) - the flippant inclusion of the second horn . To Grünbaum, the philosophical lineage of this question is an unfortunate confusion and a waste of time. Why is there something rather than nothing? Each philosopher's core . Nothing doesn't do anything. The PSR is one form of various cosmological arguments. "Why is there something rather than nothing?" sounds so fundamental a question that it should have perplexed humanity since the dawn of philosophy. Leibniz even thought that nothing would have been "simpler and easier". Adolf Grünbaum. With classical logic in the background only trivial answers are forthcoming. As this neat video explains, Leibniz came up with his "Contingency Argument" to answer that question. there is something rather than nothing and 'something' and 'nothing' are different entities. The explanation he gave was that God wanted to create a universe - the best one possible - which makes God the simple reason that there is something rather than nothing. - December 1, 2014. D1: x is the world =df. Perhaps the most famous restatement of it came in 1929 when the German philosopher, Martin Heidegger, placed it . I'm not quite convinced about Leibniz' argument, but I sure am glad there is. The cause (= real ground) of there being something rather than nothing in Leibniz is an absolute being (God), and this being is necessary simply given that there are actual things. The best evidence suggests our universe is one among an infinite number of possible realms, with the full extent of reality being unbounded. Leibniz thought that the fact that there is something and not nothing requires an explanation. This is the most fundamental question of all. We can put Leibniz's argument into five premises which shows that God is the best explanation of the Universe. . Leibniz was the first thinker in recorded history to succinctly express this demand as the question: "why is there something rather than nothing?" Framed this way, the question of why anything exists hits especially hard. The sufficient reason […] is found in a substance which […] is a necessary being bearing the reason for its existence within itself. x is the aggregate consisting of every contingent thing that ever did exist, does now exist, or ever will exist. it is simpler and easier, and certainly less is needed, for there to be nothing than for there to be something. Thanks Stephen, I thought of another reason for the existence of something rather than nothing,, this one being more from logic than mathematics: If nothing is defined as "no structure, plan, or law", as Wheeler suggested, then for nothing to ever result from that nothing requires the logical principle that nothing comes from nothing. The cause (= real ground) of there being something rather than nothing in Leibniz is an absolute being (God), and this being is necessary simply given that there are actual things. Human beings live on the temporal physical plane, and accept the reality of a time-bound existence, so we all have difficulty comprehending a timeless one. The German philosopher Leibniz wondered in the 17th century why there is something rather than nothing. It is the ultimate question about the world and us. Why something was necessary can be viewed as follows: in the beginning either there was nothing or something. Although this is an explanation that leaves the matter relatively settled, it is not excessively popular today. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was a German mathematician and philosopher. #Apologetics #Leibniz. The existence of the universe is predicated a priori on there being life, as in a universe without this potential it would be indifferent whether it exists or not. Leibniz's oft-quoted Question reads '…[W]hy is there something rather than nothing, since nothing is easier than something?' Whatever the merits of the first horn of the question - his principal concern and the only part represented in philosophical literature (cf. Jason -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. Thus, he argues, there is no mystery why there is something rather than nothing: we cannot actually imagine there being nothing. So, why is there something rather than nothing? These were the questions that Leibniz raised, and from them he developed an argument for the existence of God based on the Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR). According to Martine, the only intelligible version of the ultimate why question is the far more modest one: "Why is there this something rather than some other something . Why is there something rather than nothing? Leibniz's answer was the usual one in his time: there is something because God created it and God created himself. Leibniz thought that the fact that there is something and not nothing requires an explanation. Questions originally asked by Leibniz ( 1714 ) section 7 of the negative send... Grünbaum, the question can be a cause currently senior research fellow at all Souls College, Oxford ''. Since Leibniz raised the & # x27 ; t result in something name a. 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