Leibniz originated the question of why anything exists rather than nothing.
Evidence
3 Why is there anything?: Gottfried von Leibniz, ‘The Principles of Nature and Grace, Based on Reason’ (1714), in Discourse on Metaphysics and Other Writings, ed. P. Loptson, tr. R. Latta & G. R. Montgomery, rev. P. Loptson (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2012), 103–13, this 108–9 (paragraph 7). … 4 ‘The great master of astonishment’ and ‘put a radiant obstacle’: Steiner, Martin Heidegger, 158. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 1195
Categorization
- DEFINE: ‘Why is there anything at all rather than nothing?’ — the Leibnizian question Heidegger made his own — is a core orienting question for understanding Heidegger’s philosophy.
- XREF: The Leibnizian grounding question connects to the reader’s interest in existentialist themes of wonder, astonishment, and contingency. — connects to: The fundamental question of why there is something rather than nothing marks the limits of knowledge tied to limits of mind. — What Are The Limits of Knowledge?; The existence of the universe raises questions about its origin. — Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time, 341; Nothingness is logically subsequent to being and always supposes a specified being (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- The question why being exists is meaningless; contingency is being’s root
#contradicts(0.85) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1434 - Leibniz defined an infinite number of unextended soul substances called monads.
#expands(0.80) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 2128 - Nothingness is logically subsequent to being and always supposes a specified being
#qualifies(0.75) - Being is logically prior to nothingness, which has only borrowed existence.
#qualifies(0.75) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 208 - The existence of the universe raises questions about its origin.
#exemplifies(0.70) — Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time, 341