The Mystery of Existence Why Is There Anything At All?

by Leslie, John; Kuhn, Robert Lawrence

• ISBN13: 9780470673553
• ISBN10: 0470673559
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-04-22
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This compelling study of the origins of all that exists, including explanations of the entire material world, traces the responses of philosophers, scientists, and theologians to the most elemental and haunting question of all: why is anything here? It includes the thoughts of dozens of luminaries from Plato and Aristotle to Stephen Hawking and the Dalai Lama. The first accessible, carefully edited volume to cover an extremely wide range of possible reasons for the existence of all reality, from Plato to Stephen Hawking Features insights by scientists, philosophers, and theologians Includes informative and helpful editorial introductions to each section Provides a wealth of suggestions for further reading and research Material that is both comprehensive and comprehensible Promoted on Closer To Truth , the PBS / public television series on science and philosophy

Author Biography

John Leslie is University Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Guelph, Canada, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Well-known in the philosophy of cosmology and religion, he has held visiting professorships at institutions including the Australian National University (Research Department of Philosophy) and the University of Liège (Institute of Astrophysics). He is the author of numerous publications including Value and Existence (Blackwell, 1979), Universes (Routledge, 1989), The End of the World: the Science and Ethics of Human Extinction (Routledge, 1996), Infinite Minds (Oxford University Press, 2001), and Immortality Defended (Blackwell, 2007).

Robert Lawrence Kuhn is a public intellectual and the creator and host of Closer To Truth, the long-running PBS / American public television series on science and philosophy. With a doctorate in brain research (UCLA), he is the author or editor of more than 30 books, including Closer To Truth: Challenging Current Belief and Closer To Truth: Science, Meaning and the Future. A recognized expert on Chinese politics and economics, he is the author of The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin (Crown, 2005), China’s best-selling book of 2005, and How China’s Leaders Think (Wiley, 2011). He is a frequent commentator for the BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, China Central Television (CCTV), and Euronews.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

1 General Introduction

2 Some Quotations

3 Possible Responses to “Why Anything?”

4 First Solution: A Blank Is Absurd

5 Second Solution: No Explanation Needed

6 Third Solution: Chance 

7 Fourth Solution: Value/Perfection as Ultimate

8 Fifth Solution: Mind/Consciousness as Ultimate

9 Fine-Tuning and Multiple Universes

10 The Problem Seems Genuine

Bibliography and Suggestions for Further Reading

Index of Names

Index of Concepts