Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing? A Probabilistic Answer Examined

Philosophy 93 (4):505-521 (2018)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Peter van Inwagen has given an answer to the question ‘Why is there something rather than nothing?’. His answer is: Because there being nothing is as improbable as anything can be: it has probability 0. Here I shall examine his argument for this answer and I shall argue that it does not work because no good reasons have been given for two of the argument’s premises and that the conclusion of the argument does not constitute an answer to the question van Inwagen wanted to answer.

Similar books and articles

Peter Van Inwagen on material beings.Matti Eklund - 2002 - Ratio 15 (3):245–256.
‘Why Did It Happen to Me?’: J. L. H. THOMAS.J. L. H. Thomas - 1990 - Religious Studies 26 (3):323-334.
Questions and Answers.Henry Hiz - 1962 - The Classical Review 59 (10):253-265.
Why Care about Being an Agent.Caroline T. Arruda - 2017 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 95 (3):488-504.
Knowing the Answer.Jonathan Schaffer - 2007 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 75 (2):383-403.
Futility, Conscientious Refusal, and Who Gets to Decide.J. K. Davis - 2008 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 33 (4):356-373.
Toward a Commonsense Answer to the Special Composition Question.Chad Carmichael - 2015 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 93 (3):475-490.
Van Inwagen on introspected freedom.Jean-Baptiste Guillon - 2014 - Philosophical Studies 168 (3):645-663.
Simulation theory on conceptual grounds.Brie Gertler - 2004 - ProtoSociology 20:261-284.

Analytics

Added to PP
2018-06-13

Downloads
675 (#23,431)

6 months
105 (#35,435)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Citations of this work

Something Rather Than Nothing.Guido Imaguire - 2022 - Philosophy 97 (1):1-22.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Grounding is not a strict order.Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra - 2015 - Journal of the American Philosophical Association 1 (3):517-534.
The subtraction argument for metaphysical nihilism.Tom Stoneham - 2005 - Journal of Philosophy 102 (6):303 - 325.
Why is there anything at all?T. J. Mawson - 2008 - In Yujin Nagasawa & Erik J. Wielenberg (eds.), New waves in philosophy of religion. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.

Add more references