From: Mitchell Porter (mitchtemporarily@hotmail.com)
Date: Mon Dec 09 2002 - 05:17:09 MST
gts says:
>We can imagine a universe in which some things are non-existent, but we
>cannnot imagine a non-existent universe. It is therefore pointless to ask
>why it exists.
Let's be clear about this. Do you agree with the following
statements?
1) The universe exists.
2) There is absolutely no reason why the universe exists.
If you agree with those, then my question is:
Could the universe not have existed at all?
So far you have only argued that total nonexistence is
inconceivable. But the question now is whether it's
*impossible*. If you think it's impossible, then you do
have an answer to the question "Why does the universe
exist?" - "Because the alternative is impossible."
So it seems to me that to agree with proposition 2, you
must say that total nonexistence *is* possible, albeit
inconceivable. Otherwise, the existence of a universe
becomes a logical necessity, and the allegedly meaningless
question does have an answer.
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