Miguel’s Questions - Part 2
V. In Response to the First Part of Question One
Miguel: 1. “Only the actual world exists” Can you tell me if this is your opinion/understanding …
As you expressed interest in my own opinion and understanding, and having delved into what those words may mean for Richard, I will take a moment to expound on what those words individually and collectively mean to me when viewing them in fidelity to their lexical denotations, independent of Richard’s idiosyncratic connotations. Doing so reveals something remarkably ordinary and obvious; maybe so obvious and ordinary that it is overlooked or, if not overlooked, deemed to possess little value. Maybe it is of little value as, like everything else, the value of something exists in the eye of the beholder. Against this backdrop of lexical fidelity, it is revealed that the expression “only the actual world exists” is a pure tautology.
(n) tautology ((logic) a statement that is necessarily true)
(n) tautology (useless repetition)
WordNet Search - 3.1
tautology (n.): 1.1. A phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in different words.; 1.2. A statement that is true by necessity or by virtue of its logical form.
Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words
The statement’s tautological nature is exposed by distilling its structure into its most condensed form such that the meaning of its individual and collective components remains intact.
A. The Distillation Process
- Because “world” is synonymous with “universe,” the original statement (“Only the actual world exists”) could equally be put this way: “Only the actual universe exists.”
World
(n) universe, existence, creation, world, cosmos, macrocosm (everything that exists anywhere)
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=world&sub=Search+WordNet&o2=&o0=1&o8=1&o1=1&o7=&o5=&o9=&o6=&o3=&o4=&h=00000
In its most general sense, the term “world” refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is.
World - Wikipedia
- As the word “actual” means “existent” or “existing in fact” then one can insert its meaning into the statement, to where it can now read as: “Only the existent universe exists.”
Actual
(adj) existent
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=actual&sub=Search+WordNet&o2=&o0=1&o8=1&o1=1&o7=&o5=&o9=&o6=&o3=&o4=&h=000
(adj) 1. Existing in fact; real.
https://www.lexico.com/definition/actual
- The tautological nature of the original phrase is becoming apparent. Going further, as there is no other existent universe (uni = one) – inherent to the universe is its sole and no-other nature – then the word “only” is redundant and can be dropped with no loss in meaning; the phrase can be shortened to: “The existent universe exists.”
Only
(adv): merely, simply, just, only, but (and nothing more)
(adv) entirely, exclusively, solely, alone, only (without any others being included or involved)
WordNet Search - 3.1
(adv): 1. And no one or nothing more besides; solely.
Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words
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As the universe refers to everything there is (“everything that exists anywhere”, WordNet 3.1), then “universe” can be replaced with what it refers to, so that it now states: “The existent everything exists.”
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At this point in the process, my word processor is drawing blue squiggly lines under “the existent everything” recommending I replace that odd turn of phrase with simply the word “everything.” I agree with my word processor. “The existent everything” simply means everything. The distillation is now complete and what is revealed is the obvious truism that: “Everything exists.”
B. Results of Distillation and Further Implications
The result of distillation reveals how “only the actual world exists” essentially means “everything exists.” From here, there is at least one additional implication that arises. The fact that everything exists necessarily means that there is nothing – absolutely nothing – that does not exist. Since a “thing” exists; then a “no thing” does not exist; of course, since a “no thing” is literally nothing. To repeat, there is “no thing” (nothing) – absolutely nothing – that does not exist. There always was and always will be something which does. Ergo:
- Only the actual world exists = Everything exists = Nothing does not exist.
(The answer to the first part of your 2nd question should at this point be self-evident).
Richard arrived at the same deceptively plain conclusion:
Richard (n.d.): If the universe was not here, then what would be here instead? Nothing? But we have no idea what nothing is without a ‘something’ to know it by … hence the universe is necessary for that concept. Ergo, the universe must be here – there cannot not be a universe. This is where philosophers get caught by their own logic. Because there is a ‘something’ – the universe – there can be a concept of a ‘nothing’ … but it is only a concept. ‘Nothing’ does not exist as an actuality … hence eastern philosophy, with their concept of ‘Nothingness’ and ‘The Void’ and ‘Emptiness’ is nothing but that … a concept. That they are then able to experience it as a psychic adumbration is nothing short of institutionalised insanity. The mind creates a fantasy, then yearns to live in it … and a rare few do! It is amazing, because there is no ‘nothing’; there is no ‘outside’ to this universe … it is infinite and eternal.
Infinitude Is The Boundlessness of Space and Time
VI. Final Thought
As the universe, at every moment, is making consciousness out of itself and likewise is making everything that consciousness is conscious of, then to be conscious of something (anything) at any given moment is for the universe – at that same moment – to be conscious of it too (the synchroneity of it is staggering). It comes as no surprise then that what applies in this case to the entirety (the universe) likewise applies to the local (consciousness).
Existence surrounds and abounds. “‘Nothing’ does not exist.”