ABSTRACT
Our question is “Why is there something rather than nothing?” There are at least two different interpretations of this question. First, we might be asking why there are material things rather than no material things. Second, we might be asking why there is anything at all—aterial or immaterial—rather than nothing at all. In this essay, I will be addressing one particular explanatory strategy for addressing both questions. To make sure there is no confusion, I’ll use “something” in this context to refer to anything at all, and I’ll use “some material thing” in this context to refer to any material thing. Our two questions are why there is something rather than nothing, and why there are some material things rather than no material things.
