Richard Swinburne - Why is There 'Something' Rather Than 'Nothing'?

Here’s the ultimate question: what if it were true that everything always and forever had been ‘nothing’? Imagine that not a single thing ever existed–not emptiness, not blankness, not even the existence of emptiness, or the meaning of blankness. If you can image that, now ask yourself: why is there anything at all?

Richard Swinburne is a Fellow of the British Academy. He is a former Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at the University of Oxford and is currently Emeritus Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion.

Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[farerse]

These big questions can sometimes make me depressed, if I think about it too much. Yet I can't stop pondering

[clacclackerson]

I love going to the place in my head where I ponder this every now and again. Contemplating it doesn't panic me at all. Quite the opposite.

[wicky]

I’ve had that same question for many years. And a mild panic sets in whenever I think about it. No answer will suffice.

[ItsEverythingElse]

Whether one believes in a God or not, isn't it interesting that either way, the answer to "why is there something rather than nothing" becomes pointless past a certain point, for the same reasons.

[MrJimithee]

Anyone else tune in to these shows and think... "THIS time! He's gonna SOLVE it!" ?
Keep searching Robert sir, I love your work x

[understandingtheuniverseth]

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the sleep and this question pops up in my mind and it is a bewilderingly mysterious feeling!

[EduardoRodriguez-duvd]

What I don't understand is why people assume that nothingness is possible.

[duncanwallace]

Attributing the existence of the universe to god(s) leave me feeling emptier than the vast spaces between galaxies.

[HanifBarnwell]

Robert looking into the camera and breaking the third wall, well done sir!

[CrochetLover]

MUCH better sound quality!! thank you!

[maxhagenauer]

This is a serious and real question. Probably the most important and deepest question ever. Its "why is there something rather than nothing?" and "what is the purpose of all of this?". What is the purpose of there being something at all? When you think of it through just logic, it would actually seem to make more sense that there would be nothing because there wouldn't need to be a reason that there is nothing or a cause or anything. But if you have something then you would have an eternal un caused causer or an infinite regression or no matter what it is, it all is crazy to comprehend, almost like its illogical, yet here we are with something instead of nothing.

[charlesgarcia]

This question I ask myself constantly. Obviously there isn't really an answer that we will be able to find, but I am beyond curious what was the very first 'thing' in existence and what caused the existence of that 'thing'?

[J]

"Why is there a physical Universe?" The 'simplest explanation' is not God - but the possibility that it has always existed.

[festeradams]

Well, if there were "nothing", then they wouldn't be seemingly endless videos talking about essentially nothing...

[Jinxed]

Before I was born, there was absolutely nothing. When I die, there will be absolutely nothing once again.
The question is not answerable because nothing and something exist simultaneously. If there is no you, there is nothing, but once you exist, there is everything. They are interdependent on each other.

[larrycarter]

Because if there was nothing we wouldn't be here to discuss it.

[rc]

a similar question is: what is the purpose of existence... but since existence cannot possibly emerge from nothing then the purpose of existing seems to be more of an oxymoron/paradox... other variations can be considered, such as, why this vs that type or form of existence and the role of the rules or laws binding it all together...

[amreshyadav]

Asking why questions in science make no sense..
Only question that makes sense in science ...

[questor]

In the final analysis, it may be determined that reality is infinite, and the finite cannot comprehend the infinite due to the confines of limitation. Regardless of which model we choose, Creationism or Darwinian, something has always been in existence, and that something is the essence of the universe.

[Casey-Jones]

I have actually found the answer to this question
See below for a full description
Comments are welcome: