Some claim it created the universe. Sartre argued it was central to our Being. Yet Nothing turns out to be strangely elusive. Scientists can’t find it or describe it. Bertrand Russell argued it was just a logical mistake. Is Nothing an illusion, a fictitious error? Or is it a vital key to our understanding of the universe and who we are?
In this debate from the Institute of Art and Ideas, multiverse cosmologist Laura Mersini-Houghton, CERN physicist John Ellis and philosopher of science and author of Every Thing Must Go James Ladyman keep looking for Nothing.
This video was produced by The Institute of Art and Ideas and is republished here with permission. It was filmed at HowTheLightGetsIn 2016 alongside 200 other debates and talks, all available for free at IAI TV. Tickets for HowTheLightGetsIn 2018 are now on sale — for the launch lineup and more information, click here.