if only one thing exists, nothing exists?

Question

If one thing does not differ from any other, it has no identity (it has no properties, features, limits...). If something has no identity, it's not a thing. So only one thing can't exist.

i.e.: I tell you that I have a mysterious object that I call x. The only characteristic of x is that x=x. What is x? I suppose that the only possible answer is "nothing".

Spinoza seems to agree (16 June 1674):

As to the doctrine that figure is negation and not anything positive, it is plain that the whole of matter considered indefinitely can have no figure, and that figure can only exist in finite and determinate bodies. For he who says, that he perceives a figure, merely indicates thereby, that he conceives a determinate thing, and how it is determinate. This determination, therefore, does not appertain to the thing according to its being, but, on the contrary, is its non-being. As then figure is nothing else than determination, and determination is negation, figure, as has been said, can be nothing but negation.

Note: This is not a set theory question, but a metaphysical one. As far as I know, in the set theory the ø avoid the problem through axiomatic means, but I'm not trained in set theory. This question can be probably formulated also as: existence monism coincide with nihilism?

Answer 1

I would agree with @Conifold that the 'gerrymandering' confuses the question. It is an excellent question but could do with a lot of tidying up. The main problem is the casual use of words like 'exist' and 'identity'.

Conifold mentions Plotinus and the 'One' and this takes us to the heart of the matter. If Plotinus had argued that the One exists then he would have fallen foul of the OP's objections. He does not do this. His One transcends the exist/not-exist distinction. It would be incoherent to argue that the source of existence exists. Plotinus' philosophy is non-dualism, not monism. His 'One' is not a numerical quantity.

These complications entail that to discuss these issues at this depth and avoid confusion requires a very clear definition of words like 'existence'.

As to 'identity' and 'definition' again some clarity would help. The question states that a thing with no identity is not a thing. True enough, but there are subtleties. Plotinus argues that things are not really things but mere appearances and all would share a fundamental identity. This 'fundamental identity' cannot be positively-defined or distinguished and cannot be said to exist or not-exist. This would not be a thing but would be all that is truly Real. To exist would be to be created and thus to be reducible in physics and metaphysics.

This is not an attempt to explain this philosophy but to indicate that the subtleties we are dealing with here demand very clear definitions of our terms and concepts, and great care to avoid building unnecessary assumptions into our questions. It may suggest that the way to make progress on metaphysical questions is to keep trying to clarify them. By the time we've defined our terms we've done most of the work.

I believe it is logically impossible for just one thing or substance to exist or for existence to arise from a composite 'phenomenon' or substance. I conclude that Plotinus endorses the only view of these matters that survives analysis.

Great question and I'd agree with your conclusion if not all of your argument.

Answer 2

If the Universe is the set of all things (whether of rational or irrational value), then it should also include the concept of nothingness.

So if only one thing exists, it would have to be the Universe itself ("all things", which is the complement of nothing). Because nothing by definition is no-thing.

Things exist objectively; nothingness is only subjective.

Peter Sas explained Badiou's fallacy thus:

Badiou's fallacy illustrates something of importance concerning the paradoxes surrounding the concept of nothingness. As soon as we start using "nothing" as a referring noun, we are in trouble: nothingness becomes a referent, an object. In that case, if we say that nothing exists, we imply that there exists this object called "the nothing", which is contradictory. It is clear that this contradiction is not an objective fact concerning the state where nothing exists. The contradiction is merely an effect of our objectification of this state. Just like Badiou cannot conjure being out of nothingness by giving the latter a proper name, so nothingness cannot be made inconsistent merely by our objectification of it.

Independent Academia, Peter Sas

Answer 3

I am no philosophy major but practically speaking, I look at it this way. How can a single thing exist? Wouldn't it necessarily need to be a part of something else? Nothing we know of can exist by itself. It's always a minor part of something bigger or of a particular environment.

On the other end of the spectrum, doesn't everything we know of and can measure, consist of something else? Atoms were once though of as the smallest possible component of existence. We are now learning that it's way more complicated than that.

Answer 4

1. Not sure humans can imagine, let alone conceive, that 'nothing exists' This belief shapes the rest of the questions.

2. question 'if only one thing exists, nothing exists?' is contradictory. It posits that one thing exists, which would mean something exists. You certainly should not be stating as a fact that 'one thing exists' as if it entailed 'nothing exists'

3. A better rendering might be 'can one thing exist by itself with no other things' but I would still have clarifying questions.
   a) is the universe one thing ? (I am assuming not) b) what evidence do we have for this things existence? c) is there an observer? that is where we get evidence of things existing - that is, how do 'we' know that it exists ? d) Are 'we' a thing that exists ? e) what is the ontology that would support one thing?

4. Final answer : No, not so far as we know.