Why Does the Universe Exist? (Page 1) Notes

Key Questions

• Two questions: (1) Why does the Universe exist at all? (2) Why is the Universe as it is?

Preliminary Stance

• Parfit believes these questions are good and could have partial answers.

Arbitrariness vs Specialness

• The Universe could have been different; even if features were not special, it would be puzzling why this one exists.
• The fact seems arbitrary.
• The Universe appears special: slight differences could make life impossible; is this a coincidence?

Theists' Explanation

• Theists say God created the Universe with life-permitting features.
• But we could ask: among the possible life-containing Universes, why this one actual?
• If this was the best possible (or at least very good), this question would be answered.
• However, to defend this, we would have to solve the problem of evil.

Problem of Evil

• If we could solve the problem of evil and could assume that God exists, question (2) would be answered.
• Question (1) would become, ‘Why does God exist?’
• We partly explain some phenomenon if we show it to be simpler and less arbitrary.
• Compared with the existence of a highly complicated and specific Universe, God's existence may be claimed to have these features.

Alternative View: All Possible Universes Actual

• Suppose the observable Universe were only a fraction of reality.
• Suppose all possible Universes were actual (Nozick, Philosophical Explanations, Chapter Two).
• Question (2) would then disappear: if all possibilities are actual, we would be asking, ‘Out of all the possibilities, why is this the one that is actual?’
• But, if all possibilities…

Note on Incompleteness

• Page 1 ends mid-sentence; further content likely continues on subsequent pages.