But if we can ask meaningfully about the existence of large parts of the universe (the solar system, say, or the galaxies), does meaninglessness supervene only when we slip up and ask about all of it?
"You still have the question: why does the universe bother to exist? If you like, you can define God to be the answer to that question." --Stephen Hawking (1994), Black Holes and Baby Universes, p. 159.
Regards, CGE
Shane Mage wrote:
> On Jan 15, 2008, at 5:13 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>
>> I think the question, Why does the Universe exist? (Why is there
>> anything instead of nothing?) seems like a perfectly legitimate one
>> to many people, even if they're being told sternly, "You can't ask
>> that question! The universe just is!"
>
>
> But that is not what you have been told. You have been told a) that
> the question is meaningless b) that the words "why" or "cause" or
> "reason" for existence begs the question
>
> *nothing* cannot exist
>
>
> Shane Mage
>
> "This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it always was and is
> and shall be: an everlasting fire, kindling in measures and going out
> in measures."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 30