What is the Concept of “Nothing”? A Proposed Hierarchy
I am increasingly haunted by the central question of metaphysics:
Why is there something rather than nothing?
This question taken as a whole just induces in me a sense of helplessness and smallness far greater than contemplating the vastness of the Cosmos, which I made a personal rule never to think about late at night. The constant rumination over this core metaphysical question is driving me crazy.
One problem-solving method when an immediate direct answer is not apparent is to break the problem up into a simpler problem. To this end, I’ve decided to ask a simpler, more precise, and arguably even more fundamental and deeper question:
What is the concept of “nothing” itself?
Because this is more precise and even though it’s more simple and fundamental, it appears there’s some further progress that can be made. What if we consider a hierarchy of “nothing itself”. Below is a proposed hierarchy, ranked from superficial to deeper.
