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Informationen zum Autor 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 Liege (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 / 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 on the BBC! Bloomberg! CNBC! China Central Television (CCTV)! and Euronews. Klappentext Offers a study of the origins of all that exists! including explanations of the entire material world. This title traces the responses of philosophers and scientists to the most elemental and haunting question of all: Why is anything here - or anything anywhere? Why is there something rather than nothing? Why not nothing? "I certainly recommend it, but it is not the sort of book you would buy to read in the train." ( Magonia Blog , 6 June 2013) "Their book, which I would recommend highly to students, researchers or indeed anyone with a curiosity about or stimulated by these deepest of questions, offers an abundance of suggestions for further reading and research on this inexhaustible topic." ( Mysterious Planet , 1 June 2013) Zusammenfassung Offers a study of the origins of all that exists! including explanations of the entire material world. This title traces the responses of philosophers and scientists to the most elemental and haunting question of all: Why is anything here - or anything anywhere? Why is there something rather than nothing? Why not nothing? Inhaltsverzeichnis About the Editors vi Acknowledgments vii 1 General Introduction (pages 1-12) 2 Some Quotations Leibniz! Kant (page 13) Schopenhauer! William James! George Santayana! Ludwig Wittgenstein! Bertrand Russell! J.J.C.Smart (14) John A. Wheeler! Stephen Hawking! Steven Weinberg (15) 3 Possible Responses to "Why Anything?" Nicholas Rescher (pages 16-17) 4 First Solution: A Blank is Absurd Editorial Introduction (pages 18-24) F.H. Bradley! Henri Bergson (24) Bede Rundle (25-26) David Lewis (26-30) Peter Unger (30-38) Steven Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow (39-40) 5 Second Solution: No Explanation Needed Editorial Introduction (pages 41-46) Epicurus (46-47) Hume (47-49) Fred Hoyle (49-50) W.B.Bonnor (51-52) Bertrand Russell and F.C.Copleston (53-56) Adolf Grunbaum (56-70) 6 Third Solution: Chance Editorial Introduction (pages 71-77) Alan Guth (77-82) Stephen Hawking (82-90) Alex Vilenkin (90-98) Martin Rees (98) Peter van Inwagen (98-100) 7 Fourth Solution: Value/ Perfection as Ultimate Editorial Introduction (pages 101-109) Plato (109-110) Aristotle (110-111) Plotinus (111-112) Aquinas (112-113) Anselm (113-114) Descartes (114-115) Alvin Plantinga (115-118) Spinoza (118-119) Leibniz (119-122) Hegel (122-123) A.C.Ewing (123-124) Keith Ward (125) John Polkinghorne (125-126) John Leslie (126-141) 8 Fift...
