Why is there Something Rather than Nothing?

Part 3 of 10 on the history of philosophy

“Why is there something rather than nothing?” This classic philosophical question was put to me by one of my students when I emailed them all asking what topics they hoped to discuss in our class.

Photo by Arnaud Mariat on Unsplash

“It’s an interesting question,” I emailed the student. “Let me ask you a question, though. How does it feel asking that question?”

In pedagogical circles we call this meta-cognition.

“Does it provoke anxiety? What kind of answer do you hope for? What kind of answer would disappoint you?”

People have been asking the “something rather than nothing” question for a long time. In the Medieval period—roughly the fall of Rome to the end of the bubonic plague (476 CE - 1350 CE)—philosophers who were devoted to reconciling Christianity with Aristotle (384 BCE - 322 BCE) asked this question in the free time they had from asking how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. 

They were made anxious by the question. There had to be a reason why there was something rather …