Premise 1. Everything that began to exist has a cause. Premise 2. The universe began to exist. Conclusion. Therefore, the universe has a cause. This is the basic form of the Kalam cosmological argument for the existence of god. Some say premise 2 is implied by the big bang theory, but this is not strictly…
Tag: nihilism
But is it art?
“What counts as art” is such a perennial question in philosophy that it has been practically beaten into the ground by now. What else is there to say? The topic has been given new life by generative AI and other technological phenomena, but fundamentally the arguments are the same as they’ve ever been. My own…
Trailer Park Boys: Ricky as absurd hero
Trailer Park Boys is a long-running TV show in a mockumentary style that follows three characters, Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles, who live in a trailer park in Nova Scotia, Canada. The action follows the trio’s misadventures as they create illegal money-making schemes. Each season of the show typically begins with Ricky and Julian being released…
Nihilism: the philosophy that doesn’t matter
What is nihilism? This is a question with many different correct answers. People have used the term to refer to different things. For me, it represents what I would call more specifically “philosophical” nihilism, a combination of philosophical positions that could loosely be said to form a worldview. These positions are as follows: Ontological nihilism…
Existential nihilism and despair in three songs and three philosophers
What is moving will be still What is gathered will disperse What has been built up will collapse Andrew Bird, “Tin Foil” (Fingerlings 3, 2006) These lyrics are an adapted quote from Lama Sogyal Rinpoche’s Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Impermanence (aniccā in Pali) is an important idea in many forms of Buddhism. It…
