Hence the question in the OP might become "Why is the empty possible world not the actual world?"
And the answer is, it just isn't. — Banno
There is no possible world at which there is no world, therefore the existence of something is logically necessary. — Pfhorrest
From a modal realist perspective like mine, "actual" is indexical, so that question in turn becomes "why aren't we in the empty possibly world?" — Pfhorrest
There are possible worlds without me in them, and possible worlds with some alternate version of me in them but not this me. Those are not the actual world to me, though they are actual to anyone in them. Just like there were times when I didn't exist, and times with some earlier version of me in them but not this me, and those are not the present to me, but they are present to anyone in them. — Pfhorrest
What’s the difference between an empty possible world and “no world”? — Luke
A “possible world” is therefore a spacetime snapshot of this or some other (possible) world? — Luke
Imagine a building with infinite rooms (a Hilbert Hotel if you will) representing the set of all possible worlds. — Pfhorrest
An empty possible world is represented by a room with nothing in it. An absence of any possible world is not represented; there is no room for it. — Pfhorrest
So there is something rather than nothing because of the postulated existence of this building with infinite rooms... — Luke
No, the building is just an illustration, a metaphor. — Pfhorrest
But there is a possible world that is empty. — Banno
Stupidity is, as my link points out, a congenital species defect which intellience struggles with / against and occasionally exploits (e.g. pioneers, explorers, thrill-junkies, young parents ...) — 180 Proof
Because there is no possible world at which there is no world, regardless of what it means for there to “be a possible world”. — Pfhorrest
Yep.Then the reason you have offered for why there is something instead of nothing amounts to little more than: because there is something. — Luke
Because there is no possible world at which there is no world, regardless of what it means for there to “be a possible world”. — Pfhorrest
Seems to me you are confusing there being no world with there being an empty world. — Banno
Why couldn’t there be a non-existent world (i.e. why couldn’t there be nothing) — Luke
if we can access an empty possible world — Banno
If I understand Kripkean accessibility relationships correctly (and I'm not highly confident that I do), that's basically asking if this world we're in could possibly evolve into an empty state. — Pfhorrest
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.