Jump to ContentJump to Main Navigation Why there is Something
rather than Nothing  Why there is Something rather than Nothing
Bede Rundle   If, as the theist maintains, God is a being who
exists of necessity, his existence explains why there is
something rather than nothing. However, a less demanding
explanation is also possible: not that there is some particular
being that has to be, but simply that there has to be something
or other. Reasons are given in favour of this weaker claim, and
it is then argued that if anything at all exists, the physical
exists. The priority of the physical is supported by eliminating
rival contenders: the supernatural is dismissed, and while other
forms of being, notably the abstract and the mental, ... More
Keywords: causation, essence, existence, explanation, fine
tuning, God, mind, necessity, spirit, time  Bibliographic
Information  Print publication date: 2004 Print ISBN-13:
9780199270507 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: August
2004 DOI:10.1093/0199270503.001.0001