CFIC T.O. – Science & Philosophy Book Club – “Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story” by Jim Holt

This is one of CFI Canada‘s most popular monthly events, and that is mainly because of its two book-loving hosts, CFI Canada members Christine Gagnon and Vlad Bunea. Come on out and enjoy the discussion.

It takes place at our National Headquarters, 55 Eglinton Ave E., Suite 307, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Suggested donation is $5. There is also an after-event at a location near the office and everyone is invited.

The goal is to provide a friendly, free-thinking environment in which to discuss books that inspire rewarding conversation on subjects related to science and philosophy.

“Why is there a world rather than nothing at all?” remains the darkest and most enduring of all metaphysical mysteries. Following in the footsteps of Lawrence Krauss, Christopher Hitchens, Roger Penrose, and even Stephen Hawking, Jim Holt, an American philosopher, author and essayist, now enters this fractious debate with his lively and deeply informed narrative that traces the latest efforts to grasp the origins of the universe.

The slyly humorous Holt takes on the role of cosmological detective, suggesting that we might have been too narrow in limiting our suspects to Yahweh vs. the Big Bang. Tracking down an eccentric Oxford philosopher, a Physics Nobel Laureate, a French Buddhist monk who lived with the Dalai Lama, and John Updike just before he died, Holt pursues unexplored angles to this cosmic puzzle.

As he pieces together a solution–one that sheds new light on the question of God and the meaning of existence–he offers brisk philosophical asides on time and eternity, consciousness, and the arithmetic of nothingness.