The Paideia Archive: Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy

Volume 13, 1998

Ontology

Malgorzata Szczesniak
Pages 74-80

Das Präphysiche Stadium und der Anfang der Welt

This paper concerns the main physical, philosophical and existential aspects of the ‘pre-physical’ stage in the evolution of the universe. I will discuss the ways that contemporary cosmology tries to: (1) solve the problem about the time period of the ‘pre-physical’ state; (2) answer the question whether the beginning of time was at the same time as the beginning of the existence of the Universe; (3) answer another whether the Big Bang was an absolute beginning of the existence of the Universe or only a beginning of some stage of its evolution; (4) respond to another question whether the absolute beginning of the Universe inevitably implies its creation by God or whether it allows for the possibility of the creation of the Universe in a natural way; and (5) discuss the issue of the ‘singular’ moment. All of these questions, in particular the last one, will be discussed with reference to the latest achievements in the fields of physics and cosmology.