The word nothing is an adverb of quantity that expresses the absence of something. Thus, if I say "I have nothing in my pocket" I am expressing that its interior is empty. However, the concept we are analyzing has a philosophical dimension and goes beyond a simple question of quantities.
Nothingness as a problem in the history of philosophy
The Greek philosophers raised this problem from a logical reasoning: if there is a being of things, this implies the idea of not being, that is, of nothing. In other words, nothingness is the negation of the concept of being.
Some philosophers consider that nothingness as a concept is nothing more than a word and, therefore, this does not mean that nothing is something. Thus, the word nothing is simply a sign of language that has a logical function and should not be understood as a concept that expresses the truth about something.
According to other philosophical approaches, it does make sense that we consider nothingness as an idea, but it is an empty concept, as if we were talking about a gender without individuals.
For some thinkers the problem of nothingness is non-existent: something that does not exist cannot be thought. In other words, we cannot think nothing.
From the perspective of existentialist philosophy, nothingness as a concept has its origin in the vital anguish of the human being. In simple terms we could say that we wonder about things, we do not get satisfactory answers and this ends up causing us a feeling of anguish that finally leads to the idea of existential emptiness or nothing.
From the point of view of physics
When physicists wonder about this question, they are usually referring to empty space with nothing in it. In general terms, it is considered that it is not possible to conceive something outside of space, time, without laws of nature and without particles.
God created the world out of nothing
The approach of Christianity and Judaism on Creation starts from a simple idea: God created the world from nothing. The act of creating means creating an existence or beginning to exist, which means that before Creation there was nothing.
Thus, God is the only being who can create, since humans cannot start from nothing, since it is impossible for some kind of reality to conform to it (according to the classics "nothing comes out of nothing").
Photos: Fotolia - blindesign / jorgo
