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Wednesday July 8, 2026 4:30pm - 5:25pm NZST
Ontological nihilism is a philosophical position that denies the existence of anything. The central concept of this position is nothingness. The origins of ontological nihilism can be found in the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis: God created the world from nothing. I argue that ontological nihilism is contradictory and cannot be true. I will try to prove that nothingness is a fiction and that being is everywhere, because nothingness does not exist. The fictional concept of nothingness arises when existence is separated from being. Then existence is nothing because it arises and disappears. But disappearing does not mean becoming nothing, and arising does not mean arising from nothing. Being contains arising, becoming, and disappearing, which do not exist separately from it. When we say that “God created the world out of nothing,” we mean that God existed before the world and created it out of nothing, that is, out of non-being. Now, let us consider the rephrased biblical statement: “God-being creates being out of non-being.” This statement is contradictory. God, as the very equivalent of being, can only create being from being, that is, from what is, and not from what is not, that is, from non-being.
Speakers
avatar for Ihor Karivets

Ihor Karivets

Head of Philosophy Chair, Lviv Polytechnic National University
Wednesday July 8, 2026 4:30pm - 5:25pm NZST
MSB1.03

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