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Academy Resources Glossary of Philosophical Terms Timeline of Philosophy A Timeline of American Philosophy Diagram: Development of Philosophic Thought Diagram: Divisions of Philosophy The Philosophy Resource Center The Religion Resource Center Books about Philosophy in The Radical Academy Bookstore Books about Religion in The Radical Academy Bookstore Click Here for New & Used College Textbooks at Discount Prices Click Here for College Education Information & Study Resources Shop Amazon Stores in the Radical Academy Bookstore Magazine Outlet Music Store Classical Music Store Video Store DVD Store Computer Store Camera & Photo Store Computer/Video Games Software Store Musical Instruments Outlet Store Cellular Phones Toys & Games Tools & Hardware Automotive Store Outdoor Living Consumer Electronics Home & Garden Kitchen & Housewares Baby Superstore Apparel & Accessories Gourmet Food Grocery Store Sporting Goods Jewelry & Watches Health & Personal Care Beauty Store		Nothingness by Martin Heidegger   From ancient times, metaphysics has spoken about nothingness in an ambiguous sentence. Ex nihilo nihil fit. Nothing becomes out of nothing. Although "nothing" has never been a problem in the discussion of that sentence, the leading and fundamental concept of being is expressed in it. Ancient metaphysics conceives nothingness in the sense of not being, of unshaped matter that is incapable of shaping itself into a formed being. Formed being offers an aspect, appearance (eidos). Being is form that represents something in an image. Origin, right and limit of that concept of being are as little discussed as nothingness itself. But Christian dogmatics denies the truth of the sentence Ex nihilo nihil fit and gives nothingness a changed meaning, in the sense of absolute absence of non-godly being. Ex nihilo ens creatum. Being has been created out of nothing. Now nothingness has become the contradiction of the true being, of the summum ens, of God as the ens increatum, the uncreated being. Here, too, the interpretation of nothingness indicates a fundamental concept of the Being. The metaphysical discussion of the Being maintains itself on the same level as the question concerning nothingness. It, therefore, does not care about the difficulty that, if God creates out of nothing, He just must have an attitude toward nothingness. If, however, God is God, then He cannot know nothingness, provided that the "Absolute" excludes from itself all nothingness. This sketchy historical survey shows nothingness as the counter-concept of the true Being, as its negation. But if nothingness becomes a problem anyhow, then this counter-relation is not only more distinctly determined, but then the very metaphysical question of the "being of being" is broached. Nothingness does not remain the indefinite contrary to Being, but is revealed as belonging to the "Being of Being." "Pure Being and pure non-being are the same thing" -- this sentence of Hegel is true. Being and nothing belong together, but not because, as from Hegel's point of view, both agree in their indefiniteness and immediateness, but because Being is essentially finite and becomes manifest only in the transcendence of Being taken into the realm of nothingness.   Excerpted from What is Metaphysics?, by Martin Heidegger Basic Writings, by Martin Heidegger Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Book... Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Magazine... Academy Showcase Specials     Introduction & Directory
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