Author: Jim Holt
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0871404095
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
In this astonishing and profound work, an irreverent sleuth traces the riddleof existence from the ancient world to modern times.
Why Does the World Exist
Author: Jim Holt
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0871404095
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
In this astonishing and profound work, an irreverent sleuth traces the riddleof existence from the ancient world to modern times.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0871404095
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
In this astonishing and profound work, an irreverent sleuth traces the riddleof existence from the ancient world to modern times.
Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story
Author: Jim Holt
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0871403277
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Book Description
The Washington Post Notable Non-Fiction of 2013 “I can imagine few more enjoyable ways of thinking than to read this book.”—Sarah Bakewell, New York Times Book Review, front-page review Tackling the “darkest question in all of philosophy” with “raffish erudition” (Dwight Garner, New York Times), author Jim Holt explores the greatest metaphysical mystery of all: why is there something rather than nothing? This runaway bestseller, which has captured the imagination of critics and the public alike, traces our latest efforts to grasp the origins of the universe. Holt adopts the role of cosmological detective, traveling the globe to interview a host of celebrated scientists, philosophers, and writers, “testing the contentions of one against the theories of the other” (Jeremy Bernstein, Wall Street Journal). As he interrogates his list of ontological culprits, the brilliant yet slyly humorous Holt contends that we might have been too narrow in limiting our suspects to God versus the Big Bang. This “deft and consuming” (David Ulin, Los Angeles Times) narrative humanizes the profound questions of meaning and existence it confronts.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0871403277
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Book Description
The Washington Post Notable Non-Fiction of 2013 “I can imagine few more enjoyable ways of thinking than to read this book.”—Sarah Bakewell, New York Times Book Review, front-page review Tackling the “darkest question in all of philosophy” with “raffish erudition” (Dwight Garner, New York Times), author Jim Holt explores the greatest metaphysical mystery of all: why is there something rather than nothing? This runaway bestseller, which has captured the imagination of critics and the public alike, traces our latest efforts to grasp the origins of the universe. Holt adopts the role of cosmological detective, traveling the globe to interview a host of celebrated scientists, philosophers, and writers, “testing the contentions of one against the theories of the other” (Jeremy Bernstein, Wall Street Journal). As he interrogates his list of ontological culprits, the brilliant yet slyly humorous Holt contends that we might have been too narrow in limiting our suspects to God versus the Big Bang. This “deft and consuming” (David Ulin, Los Angeles Times) narrative humanizes the profound questions of meaning and existence it confronts.
Why the World Does Not Exist
Author: Markus Gabriel
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 074568758X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
Where do we come from? Are we merely a cluster of elementaryparticles in a gigantic world receptacle? And what does it allmean? In this highly original new book, the philosopher Markus Gabrielchallenges our notion of what exists and what it means to exist. Hequestions the idea that there is a world that encompasseseverything like a container life, the universe, and everythingelse. This all-inclusive being does not exist and cannot exist. Forthe world itself is not found in the world. And even when we thinkabout the world, the world about which we think is obviously notidentical with the world in which we think. For, as we are thinkingabout the world, this is only a very small event in the world.Besides this, there are still innumerable other objects and events:rain showers, toothaches and the World Cup. Drawing on the recenthistory of philosophy, Gabriel asserts that the world cannot existat all, because it is not found in the world. Yet with theexception of the world, everything else exists; even unicornson the far side of the moon wearing police uniforms. Revelling in witty thought experiments, word play, and thecourage of provocation, Markus Gabriel demonstrates the necessityof a questioning mind and the role that humour can play in comingto terms with the abyss of human existence.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 074568758X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
Where do we come from? Are we merely a cluster of elementaryparticles in a gigantic world receptacle? And what does it allmean? In this highly original new book, the philosopher Markus Gabrielchallenges our notion of what exists and what it means to exist. Hequestions the idea that there is a world that encompasseseverything like a container life, the universe, and everythingelse. This all-inclusive being does not exist and cannot exist. Forthe world itself is not found in the world. And even when we thinkabout the world, the world about which we think is obviously notidentical with the world in which we think. For, as we are thinkingabout the world, this is only a very small event in the world.Besides this, there are still innumerable other objects and events:rain showers, toothaches and the World Cup. Drawing on the recenthistory of philosophy, Gabriel asserts that the world cannot existat all, because it is not found in the world. Yet with theexception of the world, everything else exists; even unicornson the far side of the moon wearing police uniforms. Revelling in witty thought experiments, word play, and thecourage of provocation, Markus Gabriel demonstrates the necessityof a questioning mind and the role that humour can play in comingto terms with the abyss of human existence.
The Mystery of Existence
Author: John Leslie
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470673559
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
This compelling study of the origins of all that exists, including explanations of the entire material world, 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? It includes the thoughts of dozens of luminaries from Plato and Aristotle to Aquinas and Leibniz to modern thinkers such as physicists Stephen Hawking and Steven Weinberg, philosophers Robert Nozick and Derek Parfit, philosophers of religion Alvin Plantinga and Richard Swinburne, and the Dalai Lama. The first accessible volume to cover a wide range of possible reasons for the existence of all reality, from over 50 renowned thinkers, including Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Leibniz, Hume, Bertrand Russell, Stephen Hawking, Steven Weinberg, Robert Nozick, Derek Parfit, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, John Polkinghorne, Paul Davies, and the Dalai Lama Features insights by scientists, philosophers, and theologians Includes informative and helpful editorial introductions to each section Provides a wealth of suggestions for further reading and research Presents material that is both comprehensive and comprehensible
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470673559
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
This compelling study of the origins of all that exists, including explanations of the entire material world, 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? It includes the thoughts of dozens of luminaries from Plato and Aristotle to Aquinas and Leibniz to modern thinkers such as physicists Stephen Hawking and Steven Weinberg, philosophers Robert Nozick and Derek Parfit, philosophers of religion Alvin Plantinga and Richard Swinburne, and the Dalai Lama. The first accessible volume to cover a wide range of possible reasons for the existence of all reality, from over 50 renowned thinkers, including Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Leibniz, Hume, Bertrand Russell, Stephen Hawking, Steven Weinberg, Robert Nozick, Derek Parfit, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, John Polkinghorne, Paul Davies, and the Dalai Lama Features insights by scientists, philosophers, and theologians Includes informative and helpful editorial introductions to each section Provides a wealth of suggestions for further reading and research Presents material that is both comprehensive and comprehensible
Why We Exist
Author: Marc D. Garrett
Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
ISBN: 1489706690
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 47
Book Description
Why do we exist? Where did the earth, sun, galaxy, and the entire universe come from? What is time, and does it even exist? Why does religion cause so much war? And in the end, whats the point of it all? While scientists, religious leaders, and historians have all provided insight into the origins of existence and the causes of major world events, often these explanations are at worst contradictory or at best inconsistent. However, without tricks or speculationand with some plain old common senseis there a way to discover the answers to questions about our existence beyond these different and widely held seeds of thought? Why We ExistLife, Science, and More provides an uncommon explanation about the origins of existence that overviews and synthesizes conclusions from the life sciences, physical sciences, and religion. Using common sense logic to show how topics like gravity, time, the universe, and war are all interrelated and point to the existence of a so-called third entityan entity that must exist and of which everything is a partwe can walk away with a new and exciting knowledge. Answering these timeless questions about our existence can open our eyes and minds to a veritable new world of insight and inspiration. Taking this journey to discover fulfilling answers about why we exist will prove to be not only a fun and thought-provoking questit will also be both useful and meaningful to our continued lives.
Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
ISBN: 1489706690
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 47
Book Description
Why do we exist? Where did the earth, sun, galaxy, and the entire universe come from? What is time, and does it even exist? Why does religion cause so much war? And in the end, whats the point of it all? While scientists, religious leaders, and historians have all provided insight into the origins of existence and the causes of major world events, often these explanations are at worst contradictory or at best inconsistent. However, without tricks or speculationand with some plain old common senseis there a way to discover the answers to questions about our existence beyond these different and widely held seeds of thought? Why We ExistLife, Science, and More provides an uncommon explanation about the origins of existence that overviews and synthesizes conclusions from the life sciences, physical sciences, and religion. Using common sense logic to show how topics like gravity, time, the universe, and war are all interrelated and point to the existence of a so-called third entityan entity that must exist and of which everything is a partwe can walk away with a new and exciting knowledge. Answering these timeless questions about our existence can open our eyes and minds to a veritable new world of insight and inspiration. Taking this journey to discover fulfilling answers about why we exist will prove to be not only a fun and thought-provoking questit will also be both useful and meaningful to our continued lives.
Why Fish Don't Exist
Author: Lulu Miller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501160346
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
Nineteenth-century scientist David Starr Jordan built one of the most important fish specimen collections ever seen, until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake shattered his life's work.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501160346
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
Nineteenth-century scientist David Starr Jordan built one of the most important fish specimen collections ever seen, until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake shattered his life's work.
Immortality Defended
Author: John Leslie
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405181389
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 112
Book Description
Might we be parts of a divine mind? Could anything like anafterlife make sense? Starting with a Platonic answer to why theworld exists, Immortality Defended suggests we could well beimmortal in all of three separate ways. Tackles the fundamental questions posed by our very existence,among them, "why does the cosmos exist?", "is there a divine mindor God?", and "in what sense might we have afterlives?" Defends a belief in immortality, without the need for areligious affiliation or rejection of modern science Explores the ideas of "Einsteinian immortality", the divineafterlife, and the theory of an infinite and divine mind Draws from the work of a wide-range of philosophers, fromancient Greece to the present day, and incorporates up-to-datescientific findings Written in a thought-provoking and engaging manner, accessibleto anyone intrigued by the wonder of our being
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405181389
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 112
Book Description
Might we be parts of a divine mind? Could anything like anafterlife make sense? Starting with a Platonic answer to why theworld exists, Immortality Defended suggests we could well beimmortal in all of three separate ways. Tackles the fundamental questions posed by our very existence,among them, "why does the cosmos exist?", "is there a divine mindor God?", and "in what sense might we have afterlives?" Defends a belief in immortality, without the need for areligious affiliation or rejection of modern science Explores the ideas of "Einsteinian immortality", the divineafterlife, and the theory of an infinite and divine mind Draws from the work of a wide-range of philosophers, fromancient Greece to the present day, and incorporates up-to-datescientific findings Written in a thought-provoking and engaging manner, accessibleto anyone intrigued by the wonder of our being
When Einstein Walked with Gödel
Author: Jim Holt
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374717842
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
From Jim Holt, the New York Times bestselling author of Why Does the World Exist?, comes an entertaining and accessible guide to the most profound scientific and mathematical ideas of recent centuries in When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought. Does time exist? What is infinity? Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot. Holt offers a painless and playful introduction to many of our most beautiful but least understood ideas, from Einsteinian relativity to string theory, and also invites us to consider why the greatest logician of the twentieth century believed the U.S. Constitution contained a terrible contradiction—and whether the universe truly has a future.
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374717842
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
From Jim Holt, the New York Times bestselling author of Why Does the World Exist?, comes an entertaining and accessible guide to the most profound scientific and mathematical ideas of recent centuries in When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought. Does time exist? What is infinity? Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot. Holt offers a painless and playful introduction to many of our most beautiful but least understood ideas, from Einsteinian relativity to string theory, and also invites us to consider why the greatest logician of the twentieth century believed the U.S. Constitution contained a terrible contradiction—and whether the universe truly has a future.
God: The Failed Hypothesis
Author: Victor J. Stenger
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 161592003X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310
Book Description
Throughout history, arguments for and against the existence of God have been largely confined to philosophy and theology, while science has sat on the sidelines. Despite the fact that science has revolutionized every aspect of human life and greatly clarified our understanding of the world, somehow the notion has arisen that it has nothing to say about the possibility of a supreme being, which much of humanity worships as the source of all reality. This book contends that, if God exists, some evidence for this existence should be detectable by scientific means, especially considering the central role that God is alleged to play in the operation of the universe and the lives of humans. Treating the traditional God concept, as conventionally presented in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, like any other scientific hypothesis, physicist Stenger examines all of the claims made for God's existence. He considers the latest Intelligent Design arguments as evidence of God's influence in biology. He looks at human behavior for evidence of immaterial souls and the possible effects of prayer. He discusses the findings of physics and astronomy in weighing the suggestions that the universe is the work of a creator and that humans are God's special creation. After evaluating all the scientific evidence, Stenger concludes that beyond a reasonable doubt the universe and life appear exactly as we might expect if there were no God. This paperback edition of the New York Times bestselling hardcover edition contains a new foreword by Christopher Hitchens and a postscript by the author in which he responds to reviewers' criticisms of the original edition.
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 161592003X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310
Book Description
Throughout history, arguments for and against the existence of God have been largely confined to philosophy and theology, while science has sat on the sidelines. Despite the fact that science has revolutionized every aspect of human life and greatly clarified our understanding of the world, somehow the notion has arisen that it has nothing to say about the possibility of a supreme being, which much of humanity worships as the source of all reality. This book contends that, if God exists, some evidence for this existence should be detectable by scientific means, especially considering the central role that God is alleged to play in the operation of the universe and the lives of humans. Treating the traditional God concept, as conventionally presented in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, like any other scientific hypothesis, physicist Stenger examines all of the claims made for God's existence. He considers the latest Intelligent Design arguments as evidence of God's influence in biology. He looks at human behavior for evidence of immaterial souls and the possible effects of prayer. He discusses the findings of physics and astronomy in weighing the suggestions that the universe is the work of a creator and that humans are God's special creation. After evaluating all the scientific evidence, Stenger concludes that beyond a reasonable doubt the universe and life appear exactly as we might expect if there were no God. This paperback edition of the New York Times bestselling hardcover edition contains a new foreword by Christopher Hitchens and a postscript by the author in which he responds to reviewers' criticisms of the original edition.
A Universe from Nothing
Author: Lawrence Maxwell Krauss
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 145162445X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
This is a provocative account of the astounding new answers to the most basic philosophical question: Where did the universe come from and how will it end?
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 145162445X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
This is a provocative account of the astounding new answers to the most basic philosophical question: Where did the universe come from and how will it end?