Why the World Does Not Exist
1st Edition
Published on 4. April 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-0-7456-8757-5 (ISBN)
Description
Where do we come from? Are we merely a cluster of elementary particles in a gigantic world receptacle? And what does it all mean?
In this highly original new book, the philosopher Markus Gabriel challenges our notion of what exists and what it means to exist. He questions the idea that there is a world that encompasses everything like a container life, the universe, and everything else. This all-inclusive being does not exist and cannot exist. For the world itself is not found in the world. And even when we think about the world, the world about which we think is obviously not identical with the world in which we think. For, as we are thinking about the world, this is only a very small event in the world. Besides this, there are still innumerable other objects and events: rain showers, toothaches and the World Cup. Drawing on the recent history of philosophy, Gabriel asserts that the world cannot exist at all, because it is not found in the world. Yet with the exception of the world, everything else exists; even unicorns on the far side of the moon wearing police uniforms.
Revelling in witty thought experiments, word play, and the courage of provocation, Markus Gabriel demonstrates the necessity of a questioning mind and the role that humour can play in coming to terms with the abyss of human existence.
In this highly original new book, the philosopher Markus Gabriel challenges our notion of what exists and what it means to exist. He questions the idea that there is a world that encompasses everything like a container life, the universe, and everything else. This all-inclusive being does not exist and cannot exist. For the world itself is not found in the world. And even when we think about the world, the world about which we think is obviously not identical with the world in which we think. For, as we are thinking about the world, this is only a very small event in the world. Besides this, there are still innumerable other objects and events: rain showers, toothaches and the World Cup. Drawing on the recent history of philosophy, Gabriel asserts that the world cannot exist at all, because it is not found in the world. Yet with the exception of the world, everything else exists; even unicorns on the far side of the moon wearing police uniforms.
Revelling in witty thought experiments, word play, and the courage of provocation, Markus Gabriel demonstrates the necessity of a questioning mind and the role that humour can play in coming to terms with the abyss of human existence.
Reviews / Votes
"A majestic thought experiment."-Slavoj Zizek
"It is a rare gift to be able to philosophize from the first principles in a way that is neither patronizingly derivative nor technically arcane and in a manner that is accessible to the general reader. But Gabriel possesses that gift in bucketloads."
-Simon Critchley, New School for Social Research
"Imagine a philosopher. This philosopher has the verve and pop-culture curiosity of Slavoj Zizek; Graham Priest's comfort with unresolved ambiguity; the transparent prose of John Gray; and Martin Heidegger's nose for the faint scent of being. Your imagined thinker is Markus Gabriel, and his book is Why the World Does Not Exist."
-Sydney Morning Herald
"This delightful book, translated by Gregory Moss, upholds Wittgenstein's remark that 'whatever can be said at all can be said clearly'."
-The Guardian
"Gabriel has written a gripping thriller, which is of course what all good philosophy should be."
-Die Literarische Welt
"Markus Gabriel shows with great verve how to tackle fundamental philosophical questions, without being overly academic or dumbing down his subject matter."
-Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"With great wit and intellectual provocation, Markus Gabriel explores the perennial questions of humanity."
-Der Spiegel
"Why the World Does Not Exist, is confirmation... that modern works of German philosophy can be both profound and successful."
-Foreign Policy
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 136 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
363 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7456-8757-5 (9780745687575)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Markus Gabriel
Why the World Does Not Exist
Book
06/2015
Polity Press
€67.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Markus Gabriel was born in 1980 and studied in Heidelberg, Lisbon and New York. Since 2009 he has held the chair for Epistemology at the University of Bonn and with that is Germany?s youngest philosophy professor. He is also the director of the International Center for Philosophy in Bonn.
Content
Thinking Philosophy Anew 1
Appearance and Being 2
New Realism 5
The Plurality of Worlds 8
Less than Nothing 11
I What is this Actually: the World? 16
You and the Universe 21
Materialism 28
"The World is Everything that is the Case" 32
Constructivism 38
Philosophers and Physicists 44
II What is Existence? 50
The Super-Object 53
Monism, Dualism, Pluralism 56
Absolute and Relative Differences 61
Fields of Sense 65
III Why the World Does Not Exist 73
The Super-Thought 78
Nihilism and Non-Existence 81
The External and the Internal World 91
IV The Worldview of Natural Science 99
Naturalism 106
Monism 111
The Book of the World 115
Subjective Truths 126
Holzwege 131
Science and Art 137
V The Meaning of Religion 146
Fetishism 154
The Infinite 162
Religion and the Search for Meaning 168
The Function of God 178
VI The Meaning of Art 184
Ambivalences 186
On Sense and Reference 190
The Demon of Analogy 194
Reflexivity 197
Diversity 204
VII Closing Credits: Television 209
A Show about Nothing 212
The Senses . . . 215
. . . and the Meaning of Life 220
Notes 222
Glossary 231
Index of Names 237
Appearance and Being 2
New Realism 5
The Plurality of Worlds 8
Less than Nothing 11
I What is this Actually: the World? 16
You and the Universe 21
Materialism 28
"The World is Everything that is the Case" 32
Constructivism 38
Philosophers and Physicists 44
II What is Existence? 50
The Super-Object 53
Monism, Dualism, Pluralism 56
Absolute and Relative Differences 61
Fields of Sense 65
III Why the World Does Not Exist 73
The Super-Thought 78
Nihilism and Non-Existence 81
The External and the Internal World 91
IV The Worldview of Natural Science 99
Naturalism 106
Monism 111
The Book of the World 115
Subjective Truths 126
Holzwege 131
Science and Art 137
V The Meaning of Religion 146
Fetishism 154
The Infinite 162
Religion and the Search for Meaning 168
The Function of God 178
VI The Meaning of Art 184
Ambivalences 186
On Sense and Reference 190
The Demon of Analogy 194
Reflexivity 197
Diversity 204
VII Closing Credits: Television 209
A Show about Nothing 212
The Senses . . . 215
. . . and the Meaning of Life 220
Notes 222
Glossary 231
Index of Names 237