The Ultimate Why Question: Why Is There Anything at All Rather than Nothing Whatsoever?

274 Pages·2011·1.14 MB·English

by  John F. Wippel

The Ultimate Why Question
Studies in Philosophy and the
History of Philosophy
General Editor: Jude P. Dougherty
Volume 54
The Ultimate Why Question
Why Is There Anything at All Rather than
Nothing Whatsoever?
Edited by John F. Wippel
The Catholic University of America Press
Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 2011
The Catholic University of America Press
All rights reserved
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standards for Information
Science—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1984.
∞
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The ultimate why question : why is there anything at all rather
than nothing whatsoever? / edited by John F. Wippel.
p. cm. — (Studies in philosophy and the history of philosophy;
v. 54)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8132-1863-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Ontology 2. Nothing (Philosophy) I. Wippel, John F.
bd331.u48 2011
111—dc22
2010053924
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
John F. Wippel, Introduction 1
Part One. Contributions in Ancient Philosophy
1. Lloyd P. Gerson, Goodness, Unity, and Creation in
the Platonic Tradition 29
2. May Sim, The Question of Being, Non-Being, and “Creation
ex Nihilo” in Chinese Philosophy 43
Part Two. Contributions in Medieval Philosophy
3. Jon McGinnis, The Ultimate Why Question: Avicenna
on Why God Is Absolutely Necessary 65
4. John F. Wippel, Thomas Aquinas on the Ultimate
Why Question: Why Is There Anything at All Rather
than Nothing Whatsoever? 84
Part Three. Contributions in Modern Philosophy
5. Tad M. Schmaltz, Causa sui and Created Truth in Descartes 109
6. Daniel O. Dahlstrom, Being and Being Grounded 125
7. Holger Zaborowski, Why Is There Anything at All Rather
than Absolutely Nothing? F. W. J. Schelling’s Answer to the
Ultimate Why Question 146
8. Edward C. Halper, The Ultimate Why Question:
The Hegelian Option 170
Part Four. Contemporary Contributions
9. Robert Cummings Neville, Some Contemporary Theories
of Divine Creation 191
10. Brian Martine, Pragmatic Reflections on Final Causality 206
11. Nicholas Rescher, Optimalism and the Rationality of the
Real: On the Prospects of Axiological Explanation 217
Bibliography 231
Contributors 245
Index of Topics 249
Index of Names 257
Acknowledgments
Permission from the respective copyright holders to reprint here the fol-
lowing previously published material is gratefully acknowledged: Nicho-
las Rescher, “Optimalism and the Rationality of the Real: On the Pros-
pects of Axiological Explanation,” Review of Metaphysics 59 (2006):
503–16, originally delivered as the Presidential Address for the Meta-
physical Society of America at its annual meeting in 2005; John F. Wip-
pel, “Thomas Aquinas on the Ultimate Why Question: Why Is There
Anything at All Rather than Nothing Whatsoever?” Review of Metaphys-
ics 60 (2007): 731–53, originally delivered as the Presidential Address for
the Metaphysical Society of America at its annual meeting in 2006; Rob-
ert Cummings Neville, “Some Contemporary Theories of Divine Cre-
ation,” in Robert Cummings Neville, Realism in Religion: A Pragmatist’s
Perspective (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2009), c. 12, pp.
191–201, originally delivered at the annual meeting of the Metaphysical
Society of America in 2006.
I am deeply grateful to all of the authors who have contributed to this
book, for it is their efforts that have made it what it is. I would also like to
thank my past research assistant, Brandon Zimmermann, who provided
valuable assistance in various ways in the preparation of this volume. I
must also thank the past director of the Catholic University of America
Press, Dr. David McGonagle, for his generous cooperation and collab-
oration in preparing the volume for publication; Theresa Walker, man-
aging editor of the press, for her able assistance in seeing it through to
its publication; Professor and Dean emeritus Jude P. Dougherty, for hav-
ing accepted it for inclusion in the series Studies in Philosophy and the
History of Philosophy; Susan Barnes, for her expert copyediting of the
manuscript; Denise E. Carlson for preparing the indices; and finally Pro-
fessor Thérèse-Anne Druart and my current research assistant, George
Walter, for their assistance in proofreading the final text.
vii

The Ultimate Why Question