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Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?
Philosophical arguments have suggested that everything that exists originated from
something (Schaffer 1). The discussions have attempted to explain the origin of the universe
and God. According to religious beliefs, God created everything in the world from nothing.
The claims require advancement of proof to apply (Sorensen 1). Proving that something
exists rather than nothing involves improvement of evidence in support of the claims as is the
requirement of the philosophy of science.
Inductive and deductive reasoning has been applied to explain the existence of the
universe and everything contained in it. However, according to St Augustine, one should not
start at the beginning or the end to understand the reason for the existence of anything. St
Augustine asserts that the assessment should be done for what is seen and establishes the
connections between the past and the future using data (Sorensen 1). In such a manner, both
inductive and deductive reasoning will apply to determining the origin of the universe.
The burden of proof is not necessarily required when everyone seems to agree with
the postulation. The postulation becomes a manifest image when people approves of it. The
burden of proof however becomes indispensable when one challenges the belief through
scientific enquiry (Sorensen 1). Since manifest image and scientific image are often in
contradiction, the scientific enquiries usually attempt to falsify a belief (Hartshorne 1). The
attempt reinforces the existence of something in the beginning that the investigation intends
to falsify or prove.
