Analysis Of Derek Parfit Why This? Why Anything?

In “Why This? Why Anything?” Derek Parfit provides his demonstration of the fallibility of providing causal answers for the creation of the universe. In light of the fallibility of causal answers, Parfit seeks to incorporate his response to the creation of the universe with the use of non-causal answers which explains something’s existence in virtue of its properties, rather than attempting to follow an infinite chain of reasoning. While Parfit adequately demonstrates an inability to conform our reasoning to causal interactions for the creation and nature of the universe, his understanding of non-causal answers for the nature of the universe provides little insight into the questions he proposes and provides merely a factual understanding, rather than an explanatory one. Parfit introduces his understanding of non-causal answers by first distinguishing between two questions. He asks readers to first contend why any sort of universe would come into existence and then to ponder why the created universe operates as it does. With respect to the creation of the universe, Parfit explains that reasons for the existence of any sort of universe are usually directed towards the existence of an omnipotent deity or the eternal existence of the universe. …show more content…
Parfit argues, however, that while this entity may possess the ability to bring things into creation, this entity would not have the ability to serve as its own mechanism for creation. Because existence is the logical predecessor for any further action, existence is a property that is necessarily primary to any action. It is therefore logically inconsistent to contend that any entity could cause its own