2018/02/06 by Sean M. Carroll, Carroll, Sean M. · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #Philosophy and History of Science #Philosophy and Theoretical Science #Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life #gr-qc #physics.hist-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1802.02231
Invited contribution to the Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Physics, eds. E. Knox and A. Wilson
openalex publication_date 2018/02/06 · arxiv published 2018/02/06 · arxiv created 2018/06/04 · arxiv updated 2018/06/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
It seems natural to ask why the universe exists at all. Modern physics suggests that the universe can exist all by itself as a self-contained system, without anything external to create or sustain it. But there might not be an absolute answer to why it exists. I argue that any attempt to account for the existence of something rather than nothing must ultimately bottom out in a set of brute facts; the universe simply is, without ultimate cause or explanation.