Chapter 2
Earlier we talked about the question,
“where exactly does the past exist?”
and ever since then I’ve been wondering…
what exactly does
“exist” mean?
That’s a good question!
!
What is “existence”?
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Here there is a flower. Here there is no flower.
What is the difference?
When there is a flower we can see a flower, but when there is no flower we cannot see a flower.
That makes sense.
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So does “to exist” mean
“to be visible”?
Is that what you think?
Ummm…
Umm…
What can be seen at this moment exists,
right?
So, what cannot be seen right now does not exist?
Right now we cannot see Antarc-tica from here, but does Antarctica not exist?
Right ?!
Antarctica exists on the other side of the Earth.
How can you say that Antarctica exists even though you can’t see it right now?
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I can say it like this!
If I got in a jet and flew to the South Pole, I’d be able to see that Antarctica exists.
A live video stream would also work.
But right now we don’t have a jet or a live video stream,
so we can’t look and see whether or not Antarctica exists at this very instant.
Therefore, it is completely impossible for me to know whether or not Antarctica exists right at this moment.
I can neither say that it exists nor that it doesn’t exist.
Not this again!
And you’re changing the subject…
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Antarctica must exist even if it isn’t in front of our eyes right now!!
It’s crazy to say that only what we see in front of us really exists!!
Alright then, let’s think about it like this.
Consider three kinds of “existing.”
Really exists.
Must be assumed to exist.
Might exist.
Does not exist.
exists
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Like this.
To begin with, “really exists”
means I can actually confirm that the thing in question exists.
There is a flower right in front of my eyes.
Second, “might exist”
means I cannot say there is no possibility that the thing exists.
Third, “must be assumed to exist” means I cannot actually confirm whether or not the thing in question exists right now, but I cannot help but assume that it does.
Aliens from outer space might have set up a secret base somewhere on Earth.
I cannot help but think that Antarctica exists.
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Strictly speak-ing we cannot say whether Antartica exists or not,
but in practice we cannot help but believe that it does.
It’s a very strange thing.
The existence of God to people who believe in mono-theism is another very similar example.
GOD
It is impossible to directly confirm the existence of God.
So we can presumably say neither that God exists nor that God does not exist…
but for people who believe deeply in monotheism, no matter how they think about it they cannot shake the conviction that God does actually exist.
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GOD
Of course, there are differences between Antarctica and God.
If you go to the South Pole you can confirm whether or not Antarctica exists, but in the case of God no method of direct confirmation exists.
Let me give you another example.
What will happen to this world after you die?
It will go on existing just as it is.
And will you exist in this world after you’ve died?
I won’t exist any more.
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You say that this world will go on existing
even after you have died.
Why is that?
I don’t understand what you mean…
When I die, at the same time this entire world might cease to exist!!
No way!
Of course this world will go on existing even if I disappear!
It’s crazy to say this entire world will cease to exist as well!!
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Yes, that’s true.
So “this world after I die”
is something we “cannot help but think exists.”
Though we cannot say it “really exists”
because we cannot confirm it.
Alright then, if this world will disappear when I die, what I am living for?
Well, what are you living for if this world will continue after you die?
I want to leave proof that I have lived in this world.
I see
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I see.
Perhaps this is where the secret of “existing”
is to be found.
My being able to believe that this world will continue to exist even after I’m gone
is perhaps a result of my believing that by leaving something in this world when I die
my having lived in it will be given meaning.
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In this way the longing for our lives to have meaning supports existence.
I really don’t understand what
“existing” is,
but a flower in front of my eyes exists, right?
Why do the things I see in front of me “exist”?
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Alright, let’s think about this.
There is
a flower here. But eventually it will wither and there won’t be a flower here any more.
We can also say, however, that there is a withered flower.
Eventually a mushroom begins to grow.
Now there is a mushroom.
In other words, the existing things I see in front of me undergo changes,
but the fact that they exist continues endlessly, completely unchanged.
“exists” “exists” “exists” “exists”
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Emerges Emerges Emerges Disappears Disappears Disappears
“(something) exists”
In other words, various things emerge and disappear in the unending arena of
“(something) exists,”and this process is repeated over and over again.
It’s like the arena of “now.”
That’s right.
“Exists” and “now”
are very similar.
When we think about it like this, the foundation becomes “exists” rather than “emerges and disappears.”
Emerges and disappears
“Exists”
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Question!!
Does “(something) exists” continue forever?
I don’t know.
“(something) exists” too may have an end.
It could be like this:
Emerges
Disappears “(Something) exists”
If so, then where does this “exists”
emerge from, and where does it disappear to?
“Exists” emerges from “nothing” and disappears back into “nothing.”
Nothing
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Isn’t “nothing” just a pseudo-religious concept?
Not at all. What I just said holds true as a matter of reason,
since the negation of
“existence” is “nothing.”
Emerges Disappears
Emerges Disappears
“(Something) exists”
Nothing
Individual existing things.
The working or mechanism that causes existing things to exist.
Where there is no working or mechanism causing existing things to exist.
What is “nothing”?
What is the place “where there is no working or mechanism causing existing things to exist”?
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That’s a difficult question.
Working that causes existing things to exist.
Where there is no working that causes existing things to exist.
Existence
Nothing Emerges
Rationally this is what follows, but…
we cannot clearly picture what
“nothing” is, nor can we express it directly in words.
We can’t say that “nothing” exists, can we?
This goes beyond the power of our imagination and the capacity of
language, so we can only hint at it indirectly through poetic methods of expression.
* “Absolute contradictory self-identity” and “the place of nothing”
are poetic expressions used by Kitarō Nishida.
Philosophy takes its investigations right up to the edge of this limit of language,
so we must think very carefully about what is being indirectly implied by its key terms.
Nothing
Assuming the working that causes existing things to exist has a source from which it springs,
since this is a place where there is no working that causes existing things to exist
it is a foundation that supports existence from below.
In other words, it is a
“place of nothing” that supports existence from the very bottom.
What an agonizing effort!
Trying desperately to say something
in this way.
Poetic language makes its entrance.
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Alright then, next let’s consider the working that causes existing things to exist from a different angle.
OK
There is an existing thing called “a flower”
here now.
Can we say that the working that causes this existing thing called
“a flower” to exist here and now “exists?”
Sure.
In fact, the working that causes the existing thing called
“a flower” to exist cannot be said to “exist,” nor can it be said to “not exist.”
?!
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It cannot be said to exist because if we say that the working that causes existing things to exist “exists,”
then this working itself becomes an “existing thing” and is no longer the working that causes existing things to exist.
But if we say that the working that causes existing things to exist “does not exist,”
it can no longer explain why existing things exist.
I want some ice-cream
Here we must give up on using language like “exists” and
“does not exist,”
and try to convey what we want to say using words like “hide” or
“reveal.”
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The working that causes existence can neither be said to “exist” nor to “not exist.”
In other words, it tries to hide in the shadow of existing things and conceal its own form.
But in front of someone who knows this system of concealment well,
by its display of hiding its own form
it is actually attempting to reveal itself.
In this way, poetic language like
“the working that causes existing things to exist is trying to reveal itself in the form of hiding itself”
comes to be used.
Existing
things Existing
things
Zoom Peek
* “Geheimnis” and “Ereignis” are poetic expressions used by Martin Heidegger.
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Is poetic language really philosophy?
At its outer limits, philosophy cannot avoid using such language.
Any other questions?
Why does the world
“exist” to begin with?
So your question is,
“Why does the world exist, even though it could just as easily not have existed?”*
*This is called the “fundamental question of metaphysics.”
**ある means “exists.”
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Even though this world could just as easily have been a perfect
“nothing” in which no things exist at all,
why do all sorts of things now exist?
Nothing
Why has the working that causes existing things to exist now arisen in this world?
The more you think about this the stranger it gets.
It’s such a difficult question that there are people who have been driven out of their minds by thinking about it too much.
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Why does the
world exist? ... Because it is
“necessary” that the world exist now.
“Necessity” is the key word.
To say that something is
“necessary” is to say that “no other possibilities exist.”
For example, right now I’m wearing a striped shirt.
Wow!
In fact, there is a possibility that I might have been wearing all sorts of clothes.
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While there was a possibility that I might have worn something different,
I chose this striped shirt.
As a result, my having chosen to wear stripes was not “necessary.”
So what about the world existing right now?
Is there a different possibility, other than “the world exists now?”
If there were such a possibility, it would amount to “the world does not exist now.”
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But a state in which
“the world does not exist now” is not one I can ever actually experience.
Because if “the world does not exist now,”
then neither do I who am experiencing it.
Hey, the world doesn’t exist now!
↑Inconceivable
In other words, this sort of scenario is self-contradictory.
The world exists now〜!
This is the only conceivable way it could be.
It’s different from choosing clothes.
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As a result, in the world I can experience, there is no possibility other than “the world exists now.”
In other words, the fact that the world exists now can be said to be
“necessary”!
Is everything alright?
I have
a question. Go ahead
If the world necessarily exists,
then the world ceasing to exist, or in other words...
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“my death” is something that never happens?
Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
If we take “my death”
to mean that as death grows closer new things stop occurring in my world,
and in this way I gradually approach a world in which nothing new happens,
then
such a thing is indeed possible.
We cannot say there is no such thing as “my death.”
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Um, I’m a bit confused...
Even though this world could just as easily have been absolute
“nothing,” without anything existing at all,
Nothing
why is it that all kinds of things now exist?
...that was my original question, right?
Isn’t it somehow cheating to just say,
“The world exists because it is necessary that the world exist”?!
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Very well. If you want to put it like that, let me explain in a bit more detail.
This world could indeed just as easily have been
“nothing” in which nothing exists at all.
Nothing
Things would not exist, and neither would you and I.
There’d be nothing at all.
This could just as easily have been the case.
In actuality, however, this is not what happened.
Somehow
“existence” was chosen over “nothing.”
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And the fact that
“existence” was chosen
can perhaps be called a “miracle.”
Why a miracle...?
Existence is a miracle
Because I think it’s astounding that the world exists now.
“The world exists now.”
Is there anything as amazing as this fact?
Something very close to a miracle is happening right here and now...
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Raise your eyes from this book and take a look around.
There is a world, all kinds of things exist, and all kinds of things are happening.
How amazing!
I, someone who can see, hear, and touch these things, exist.
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How amazing!
The world is not complete
“nothing.”
It is full of existing things.
Is there anything more amazing than this?
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Even though the world could just as easily have been
“nothing”...
for some reason it exists.
And since there was a possibility that the world could have been “nothing”
the fact that the world exists is not “necessary”
but completely
“contingent.”
Isn’t that different from
what you said before?!
Something’s wrong.
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That’s right. If we accept the assumption that
“the world could just as easily have been nothing,”
the fact that it exists cannot be anything other than
“contingent.”
?! ?!
?!
Alright then,
right now as I am thinking about these things,
the world already exists,
and I am already experiencing it.
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If I focus on the fact that the world already exists,
then by the logic I stated earlier, the existence of the world is “necessary.”
Go back and check.
In other words, if we take the perspective “the world could just as easily have been nothing”
then the existence of the world is
“contingent,”
but if we take the perspective
“the world already exists”
then the existence of the world is
“necessary.”
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“Contingent” and
“necessary” – This is a contradiction, isn’t it?
There is one way to resolve this contradiction.
We can think of it like this – “The necessity of the existence of the world was chosen contingently.”
This can also be put another way:
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Yes
The miracle that
“the world exists” was chosen necessarily.
These two formulations, in fact,
are my final answer to our original question, “Why does the world exist, even though
it could just as easily not have existed?”
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I feel like maybe I understand, maybe I don’t.
Fair enough
Is this philosophy?
It’s a kind of philoso-phy called
“meta-physics.”
I still can’t help feeling that poetic language isn’t philosophy...
Maybe so.
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Sensei, I have a question.
Can what we were just talking about be applied to “my existence”?
I see.
In other words, your question is, “Why have I been born, even though I could just as easily not have been born?”
Right
You’re asking:
・Why have I been born?
・What is the meaning of my existence?
・Is there a necessity to my having been born?
Alright, let’s try answering these questions with the way of thinking we just used.
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Why have I been born?
Because the necessity of my existence was contingently chosen.
Why have I been born?
Because the miracle “I exist”
was necessarily chosen.
Your existence is a miracle,
and you have been born contingently as a necessary existence!
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Does that mean my existence has some kind of necessity?
Yes
So my having been born has meaning?
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Calm down, calm down...
Wheeze Wheeze
Do you think there is a possibility that you might not have been born into this world?
Yes! I do. If so, the fact that you were indeed born is a miracle.
Through this miracle, you have been born as a necessary existence.
In other words...
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Manmaru-kun, your entire existence is an
“inevitable miracle”!!
No matter how tough it is right now
how hopeless you feel how much you are not
accepted by others
how much you would like to disappear
the fact that your entire existence was created as an “inevitable miracle”
will never change.
Anxiety Worry Despair
Inevitable miracle
Even when there is anxiety, worry, and despair, these are no more than flowers blooming out of an “inevita-ble miracle.”
Philosophy that deals with
“existence” can reach deep places like this.
It’s something you can draw on when you’re thinking about whether it’s OK for you to be alive, isn’t it?
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Um, I have a question…
Go ahead
When something exists in front of me, why am I able to “understand”
that it exists?
Sob Sob
Sob
That’s a very
good question. It’s what we call
“philosophical thinking.”
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When there is something in front of us, we “understand”
it exists because…
Exists Does
not exist
we can image the situation when it is not in front of us.
The point here is “comparison.”
By comparing these two scenarios,
I am able to understand what it is like for the flower to “exist.”
A flower “exists.”
A flower “does not exist.”
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Alright then, what about
“the world as a whole”
instead of a flower?
Can you explain what it is like for “the world as a whole to exist”?
No.
What is “the world as a whole”?
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“The world as a whole”
is the entirety of everything that exists in the world put together.
My existence, too, is included within the world as a whole.
In order to understand what it is for “the world as a whole to exist,”
in comparison to this we have to understand
what it is for “the world as a whole not to exist”...
Compar-ison
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but a state of affairs in which “the world as a whole does not exist” is something I can neither imagine nor understand.
Therefore... Compar-ison
What it is for “the world as a whole to exist,”
too, is something I can never understand.
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