Existence into one mode--force, matter, life, and mind, being
shown but different manifestations of the same Infinite Existence--the
final mystery of things would then become resolved into the simple
question, Why is there Existence?--Why is there not Nothing?

Let us then first ask, What is "Nothing"? Is it a mere word, which presents
no meaning as corresponding to any objective reality, or has the word a
meaning notwithstanding its being an inconceivable one? Or, otherwise
phrased, is Nothing possible or impossible? Now, although in ordinary
conversation it is generally taken for granted that Nothing is possible,
there is certainly no more ground for this supposition than there is for
its converse--viz., that Nothing is merely a word which signifies the
negation of possibility. For analysis will show that the choice between
these two counter-suppositions can only be made in the presence of
knowledge which is necessarily absent--the knowledge whether the universe
of Existence is finite or infinite. If the universe as a whole is finite,
the word Nothing would stand as a symbol to denote an unthinkable blank of
which a finite universe is the content. And forasmuch as Something and
Nothing would then become actual, as distinguished from nominal
correlatives, we could have no guarantee that, in an absolute or
transcendental sense, it may not be possible, although it is inconceivable,
for Something to become Nothing or Nothing Something. Hence, if Existence
is finite, No-existence becomes possible; and the doctrine of the
indestructibility of Existence becomes, for aught that we can tell, of a
merely relative signification. But, on the other hand, if Existence is
infinite, No-existence becomes impossible; and the doctrine of the
indestructibility of Existence becomes, in a logical sense, of an absolute
signification. For it is manifest that if the universe of Existence is
without end in space and time, the possibility of No-existence is of
necessity excluded, and the word "Nothing" thus becomes a mere negation of
possibility.[47]

Thus, if it be conceded that the universe as a whole is infinite both in
space and time, the concession amounts to an abolition of the final mystery
of things. For all that we mean by a mystery is something that requires an
explanation, and the whole of the final mystery of things is therefore
embodied in the question, "Why is there Existence?--Why is there not
Nothing?" But if the universe of Ex