article · European Journal of Philosophy · 2024

Why There Must Be Something Rather Than Nothing: A New Argument From the <scp>PSR</scp>

Cited by 0Open access

Abstract

Abstract This article offers a new argument that there must be something rather than nothing, grounded in the PSR. Inspired by the rationalist tradition running from Parmenides to Spinoza and Leibniz, I argue that there must be something rather than nothing because the contrary would constitute a violation of the PSR. In particular, I argue that, if there was nothing, there could be no sufficient reason for it, since nothing at all would exist to serve as a sufficient reason. Therefore, given the PSR, something must exist after all. After presenting and explaining this new argument, I consider a series of objections and replies, and develop some of its broader philosophical implications.

Cite this paper

APA 7

Shaul, D. (2024). Why There Must Be Something Rather Than Nothing: A New Argument From the <scp>PSR</scp>. European Journal of Philosophy, 33(3), 854–870. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.13018

MLA 9

Shaul, Dylan. “Why There Must Be Something Rather Than Nothing: A New Argument From the <scp>PSR</scp>.” European Journal of Philosophy, vol. 33, no. 3, 2024, pp. 854–70, https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.13018.

Chicago

Shaul, Dylan. 2024. “Why There Must Be Something Rather Than Nothing: A New Argument From the <scp>PSR</scp>.” European Journal of Philosophy 33 (3): 854–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.13018.

Harvard

Shaul, D. (2024) ‘Why There Must Be Something Rather Than Nothing: A New Argument From the <scp>PSR</scp>’, European Journal of Philosophy, 33(3), pp. 854–870. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.13018.

BibTeX

@article{shaul2024there,
  title = {{Why There Must Be Something Rather Than Nothing: A New Argument From the <scp>PSR</scp>}},
  author = {Shaul, Dylan},
  journal = {European Journal of Philosophy},
  volume = {33},
  number = {3},
  pages = {854--870},
  year = {2024},
  doi = {10.1111/ejop.13018}
}

Made from the index record. Check names, capitalisation and page numbers against the paper. Need another style? AI for Research has over 10,000.