"Nothing" is not a thing. A privation is not a substantive. — Maw
A good observation, and a strong argument, but does it mean we have nothing to talk about?
I say 'nothing is not' does not mean that 'nothing' can't be described. I mean if you think about it 'nothing is not' is a good example of how to describe nothing. — believenothing
"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."
Wittgenstein — charleton
I'm not sure "nothing is not" is a description of a thing, and no thing can follow on from that comprehensive description. — charleton
How can two nothings be compared? — believenothing
believenothing
28
Nothing must be everywhere and universal. — believenothing
hey Myttenar..? You still breathing? ;) — believenothing
)Nothing must be everywhere and universal just like that 'ether' idea because under scrutiny it is always present. — believenothing
I agree to this as part of my argumeny though the rest of this sentence made no sense to me. — Myttenar
If you want to understand The Nothing watch The Never-ending Story. Abstract philosophical concepts are useless. We are the nothing. — bloodninja
Anyways I just wanted to ask, doesn't it confuse you when you quantify N and realize that you have assigned it a property and it ceases to exist? — Myttenar
nothing is impossible. — believenothing
I watched it a long time ago. I think it portrays NOTHING in a negative light - a destroyer - and that's how people generally see it. But, what of the positive aspects of NOTHING? Is NOTHING the prime evil in this world or does it also contain, within it, the seed of a new beginning? — TheMadFool
Interesting response. Yes the phenomenon of the nothing must also have positive aspects. I think genius like Einstein and Nietzsche for example, as well as authenticity proper is precisely living with a certain openness toward the nothing. That is, disclosing new worlds (being) is only possible on the basis of the nothing. Bare with me. I don't fully understand myself yet... my thoughts aren't crystal clear — bloodninja
Could it be that I'm making a mistake by trying to understand NOTHING when it could be that ''nothing'' is only a grammatical entity like ''the'' or ''on''? — TheMadFool
If I'm correct most religious folks would say that NOTHING is the opposite of God, who is EVERYTHING — TheMadFool
Nothing is an idea. That's it. That's all it is. "Nothing" is how we conceptualize an absence of a specific thing or things within a given context. The confusion here seems to stem from the paradox of "nothing" being a conceptual "something," (an idea), because perhaps you imagine it to mean "the total absence of all things." It's doesn't. And even if it did, it's a self-defeating definition. It deteriorates into nonsense: you can't describe a thing that by definition must be indescribable. It's kind of like trying to count to infinity. — bioazer
I'm kidding.
Nothing is an idea. That's it. That's all it is. "Nothing" is how we conceptualize an absence of a specific thing or things within a given context. The confusion here seems to stem from the paradox of "nothing" being a conceptual "something," (an idea), because perhaps you imagine it to mean "the total absence of all things." It's doesn't. And even if it did, it's a self-defeating definition. It deteriorates into nonsense: you can't describe a thing that by definition must be indescribable. It's kind of like trying to count to infinity — bioazer
So, if we stick to the philosophical context, it refers to the absence of Ideas? — Vajk
It deteriorates into nonsense: you can't describe a thing that by definition must be indescribable. It's kind of like trying to count to infinity. — bioazer
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.