Nothingness in the modern physical picture of the world

Philosophy

Abstract

In modern physics, there is a common statement about the origin of the Universe from «nothing». This directly makes relevant in philosophy not only the interpretation of the problem of the Universe’s origin but also the problem of nothingness. The philosophical problem of nothingness for physics requires a solution, first of all, in philosophy itself. The situation in Russian philosophy is such that natural-scientific ways of solving the problem are offered in two extreme forms – the category of nothingness is either denied or considered in the meaning of «absolute», which is the case of dialectical materialism in the traditional form or the «philosophy of non-existence», with substance understood as matter or «absolute nothingness» respectively. These approaches use a dialectical methodology, therefore they are alternative to each other. The lack of a reasoned philosophical solution to the problem is reflected on the physical level of understanding. The paper notes a distorted understanding of the meaning of the category of nothingness in physics, manifested in the incorrect use of the category «nothing». The study reveals a physical interpretation of the category of nothingness that speaks of wrongfulness of the claims of the «philosophy of nothing» to legitimization of its concept by physical representations. It is indicated that the category of «absolute nothingness» in the physical picture of the world does not make sense. The categorical redundancy in the «philosophy of nothingness» and, as a consequence, confusion in the understanding of the category of nothingness is stated. It is concluded that there is a need for an adequate dialecticalmaterialistic solution to the philosophical problem of nothingness, which requires its revision. Further research could focus on the search for a generally accepted ontological definition of matter, without which the solution to the problem of nothingness cannot be complete.