The Mystery of Existence

This compelling study of the origins of all that exists, including explanations of the entire material world, traces the responses of philosophers and scientists to the most elemental and haunting question of all: why is anything here—or anything anywhere? Why is there something rather than nothing? Why not nothing? It includes the thoughts of dozens of luminaries from Plato and Aristotle to Aquinas and Leibniz to modern thinkers such as physicists Stephen Hawking and Steven Weinberg, philosophers Robert Nozick and Derek Parfit, philosophers of religion Alvin Plantinga and Richard Swinburne, and the Dalai Lama. The first accessible volume to cover a wide range of possible reasons for the existence of all reality, from over 50 renowned thinkers, including Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Leibniz, Hume, Bertrand Russell, Stephen Hawking, Steven Weinberg, Robert Nozick, Derek Parfit, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, John Polkinghorne, Paul Davies, and the Dalai Lama  Features insights by scientists, philosophers, and theologians Includes informative and helpful editorial introductions to each section Provides a wealth of suggestions for further reading and research Presents material that is both comprehensive and comprehensible

About the Editors vii Acknowledgments viii 1 General Introduction 1 2 Some Quotations 13 Leibniz, Kant 13 Schopenhauer, William James, George Santayana, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, J.J.C. Smart 14 John A. Wheeler, Stephen Hawking, Steven Weinberg 15 3 Possible Responses to “Why Anything?” 16 Nicholas Rescher 16 4 First Solution: A Blank is Absurd 18 Editorial Introduction 18 F.H. Bradley, Henri Bergson 24 Bede Rundle 25 David Lewis 26 Peter Unger 30 Steven Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow 39 5 Second Solution: No Explanation Needed 41 Editorial Introduction 41 Epicurus 46 David Hume 47 Fred Hoyle 49 W.B. Bonnor 51 Bertrand Russell and F.C. Copleston 53 Adolf Grünbaum 56 6 Third Solution: Chance 71 Editorial Introduction 71 Alan H. Guth 77 Stephen Hawking 82 Alex Vilenkin 90 Martin Rees 98 Peter van Inwagen 98 7 Fourth Solution: Value/Perfection as Ultimate 101 Editorial Introduction 101 Plato 109 Aristotle 110 Plotinus 111 St. Thomas Aquinas 112 St. Anselm 113 René Descartes 114 Alvin Plantinga 115 Benedict Spinoza 118 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz 119 G.W.F. Hegel 122 A.C. Ewing 123 Keith Ward 125 John Polkinghorne 125 John Leslie 126 8 Fifth Solution: Mind/Consciousness as Ultimate 142 Editorial Introduction 142 Richard Swinburne 147 Timothy O’Connor 153 William Lane Craig 155 Sayyed Hossein Nasr 159 Tenzin Gyatso, Dalai Lama XIV 160 Andrei Linde 161 Paul Davies 163 9 Fine-Tuning and Multiple Universes 171 Editorial Introduction 171 John Polkinghorne 178 Leonard Susskind 189 Steven Weinberg 192 Max Tegmark 194 Robin A. Collins 207 10 The Problem Seems Genuine 211 Editorial Introduction 211 Derek Parfit 220 Robert Nozick 238 Robert Lawrence Kuhn 246 Michael Heller 278 Nicholas Rescher 284 Bibliography and Further Reading 289 Index of Names 310 Index of Concepts 313