Problem of why there is anything at all

The question "Why is there anything at all?", or, "Why is there something rather than nothing?" has been raised or commented on by philosophers including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz,Martin Heidegger − who called it the fundamental question of metaphysics − and Ludwig Wittgenstein.

The question is general, rather than concerning the existence of anything specific such as the universe/s, the Big Bang, mathematical laws, physical laws, time, consciousness or God. It can be seen as an open metaphysical − not religious − inquiry.

Bertrand Russell said “I should say that the universe is just there, and that’s all”, a "brute fact" position also taken by physicist Sean Carroll.

Philosopher Bede Rundle has questioned whether nothing can exist.

Philosopher Stephen Law has said the question may not need answering, as it is attempting to answer a question that is outside a spatio-temporal setting, from within a spatio-temporal setting. He compares the question to asking "what is north of the North Pole?"

David Hume argued that, whilst we expect everything to have a cause because of our experience of the necessity of causes, that a cause may not be necessary in the case of the formation of the universe, which is outside our experience.

Philosopher Brian Leftow has argued that the question cannot have a causal explanation (as any cause must itself have a cause) or a contingent explanation (as the factors giving the contingency must pre-exist), and that if there is an answer it must be something that exists necessarily (i.e. something that just exists, rather than is caused).

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Wikipedia