Abstract

Why does something exist rather than nothing—could there ever have been literally nothing at all? This paper argues that absolute nothingness—a state with no things, no properties, no laws, not even modal facts—is metaphysically impossible. Three converging lines of reasoning challenge the coherence of an empty world: a logical puzzle, a language-based paradox, and a modal thought-experiment. Together they yield a concise argument that something must exist in every possible scenario. Along the way I chart five grades of ‘nothing’, address nine familiar objections, and sketch what this result means for metaphysics, cosmology, and theology.