(October 24, 2016 at 7:28 am)Alasdair Ham Wrote: P.S. two of the most pseudo-profound non-questions ever to be asked:
1. Why is there something rather than nothing?
2. Why does existence exist?
They're both akin the asking "Why does A=A instead of A=not A?" or "Why are bachelors unmarried instead of married?"
Nonsensically asked questions.
What the person is trying to ask is questions like this "Although existence always exists.... why did it expand into what we know to be the universe? Why was there a big bang? Why was there a great inflation? Why didn't existence remain either completely static or effectively static to such an extent that it was lifeless and stagnant to such a degree it would be indistinguishable from if it were completely static?"
If someone asks "Why does existence exist?" or "Why is there something rather than nothing?":
My answer is "Start by asking a question that makes logical sense. Those questions are technically nonsense questions because they contain implicit contradictory presuppositions."
Well put but you left out my favorite:
3. Why do apples taste so apple-y? (Who but God could have matched up the thing with its attributes so flawlessly?)