Alexander Rosenberg (1946) American philosopher
The Atheist's Guide to Reality (2011)
“Why are there beings at all, and why not rather nothing? That is the question.”
Warum ist überhaupt Seiendes und nicht vielmehr Nichts? Das ist die Frage.
What is Metaphysics? (1929), p. 110
Cf. Gottfried Leibniz, De rerum originatione radicali (1697)ː "cur aliquid potius extiterit quam nihil."
Source: Introduction to Metaphysics
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Martin Heidegger69
German philosopher 1889–1976Related quotes
Frank Wilczek (1951) physicist
Quoted in an article, "Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?" http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/why_is_there_something_rather_than_nothing, by Victor Stenger (June 2006).
“Why is there anything at all rather than nothing whatsoever?”
cur aliquid potius extiterit quam nihil
Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716) German mathematician and philosopher
De rerum originatione radicali (1697); reprinted in God. Guil. Leibnitii Opera philosophica quae exstant latina, gallica, germanica omniaː 1 http://books.google.gr/books?id=Huv3Q0IimL0C&vq= (1840), p. 148 <br class="br">Cf. Martin Heidegger, What is Metaphysics? (1929)ː "Warum ist überhaupt Seiendes und nicht vielmehr Nichts? Das ist die Frage."
Ursula Goodenough book The Sacred Depths of Nature
Source: The Sacred Depths of Nature (1998), p. 167
Context: We are, each one of us, ordained to live out our lives in the context of ultimate questions, such as:
Why is there anything at all, rather than nothing?
Where did the laws of physics come from?
Why does the universe seem so strange?
My response to such questions has been to articulate a covenant with Mystery. Others, of course, prefer to respond with answers, answers that often include a concept of god. These answers are by definition beliefs since they can neither be proven nor refuted. They may be gleaned from existing faith traditions or from personal search. God may be apprehended as a remote Author without present-day agency, or as an interested Presence with whom one can form a relationship, or as pantheistic — Inherent in All Things.
The opportunity to develop personal beliefs in response to questions of ultimacy, including the active decision to hold no Beliefs at all, is central to the human experience. The important part, I believe, is that the questions be openly encountered. To take the universe on — to ask Why Are Things As They Are? — is to generate the foundation for everything else.
“The most important question a human being has to face… What is it? The question, Why are we here?”
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor
"“Why Are We Here?”, in The Watchtower (2006) http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2006768?q=Elie+Wiesel&p=par
Desmond Leslie (1921–2001) British pilot, film maker, writer, and musician
The Amazing Mr. Lutterworth (1958)
“The question is: why are there markets of food at all?”
Raj Patel (1972) British academic
About global food economy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU5zT1r5Fk8 Marquette University (Retrieved on February 11, 2010.)
Jonah Goldberg (1969) American political writer and pundit
October 11, 2004 http://web.archive.org/web/20040421/www.nationalreview.com/issue/toc200409241302.asp <br class="br">2000s, 2004
