The Ultimate Why Question: Why Is There Nothing at All Rather than Nothing Whatsoever? ultimate why question: why is there anything at all rather than nothing whatsoever?

Contents

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 ...