Questions tagged [nothing]

Use this tag for questions about the philosophical concept of nothing or nothingness.

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Some questions about Scientific American's article on nothingness

A Scientific American article I was reading (I couldn't find it online) has a one-page discussion about nothingness. Some of the discussion points seem a little questionable to me, and I'd like to ask people more knowledgeable about some of…
APCoding
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"nothing" and "no-thing" - is "nothing" a negative term that is too easy to convert into a positive one?

So for example a sentence like "Things only exist conventionally, about their ultimate status, nothing can literally be said." If read as written, can the "nothing" be interpreted as a reification of nihilism? Does "nothing", as a linguistic term,…
Ilya Grushevskiy
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Can the universe be finite and also not come from nothing?

If the Big Bang model of the universe is correct, then that would mean the universe is finite in the past. Some may say that if there is no cause, this implies that the universe came from nothing. But the notion of coming from nothing implies the…
user62907
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When is an absence a nothingness?

When is an absence a nothingness, completely nothing? I've read all of Heidegger's basic writings, a handful of commentaries on him and lots on Buddhism. Both these topics talk a lot about "nothing" but I am still confused by it. When we misplace a…
user56815
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Is nothingness the same thing as the empty set?

I have read that someone defined nothingness as the empty set. Is this true? Is nothingness the empty set?
user107952
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What happens when nothing happens?

If there is nothing to happen then nothing should happen hence if nothing is happening then something is happening if something is happening the nothing is not happening. Just take example of nihilist who believes in nothing but he believes in…
Ha'Penny
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