Something for nothing?

Kant and the table of nothing

At the very end of the Transcendental Analytic Kant argues that the two concepts something/possible and nothing/impossible, which constitute the starting point of traditional ontology, are not in fact the highest concepts. Instead, these two opposed concepts stand under a higher concept, namely the concept of an object in general, and result from that concept’s division. Both the concept of so...

Sommers' proof that something exists

1. Something is possible. 2. Whatever is not a categorially possible thing is not a possible thing. 3. Suppose there were nothing (i.e., nothing exists). 4. By definition D-things are categorially impossible if and only if nothing is D and nothing is D. 5. For any D, nothing is D and nothing is D. (by 3) 6. For any D, D-things are categorially impossible, (by 4 and 5) 7. For any D, D-things are...

Ontological Pluralism, the Gradation of Being, and the Question “Why is there something rather than nothing?”

More generally being wrong about being often leads to being wrong about many ontological questions. Besides denying that there are modes of being, a second, and perhaps even more widespread, mistake made about being is the denial that there are gradations of being, that some things exist more than others, or enjoy more being than others. The claim that there are gradations of being also makes m...

Analyzing Massively Collaborative Mathematics Projects

In the increasingly rare segment, the stage curtain is raised to reveal an individual or team performing an unusual stunt, often accompanied by music from the CBS Orchestra ... after about thirty seconds the curtain is lowered and Letterman discusses with [Paul] Shaffer whether the act was ‘something’ or ‘nothing’ ... it was resurrected on the March 22, 2006, episode. A man balanced himself on ...

Lithium-air batteries: Something from nothing.

Creating Something from Nothing: A Scientific Approach to Developing Group Support Technology Meeting Structure

Developing meaningful and productive sessions using group support technology constitutes new challenges for meeting conveners, facilitators, and support staff. The complexity of planning for various activities such as abstract thinking activities, distributed meetings, orthinking activities, distributed meetings, or group writing projects to be conducted in electronic meetings suggests the need...