Double Nothingness and the Courage to be. To the Philosophy of Unstable Vacuum

Abstract

The article deals with the physical concept of “unstable vacuum” and its logical, ontological and theological implications. Тhe ontologically primary structure of the unstable nothingness (non-nothingness) includes a double self-negation (self-annihilation of nothingness). This explains the origin of Being from Nothing and also accounts for the unsteady, fl uctuating character of Being itself and all existing things that in fact are only not-non-existent. The article further explores the ontology of the reverse transition from Being to Nothingness based on the analysis of the metaphysical enigma of Vladimir Nabokov’s story “Ultima Thule”. The liminal character of non–non-being imposes on an individual the existential choice between full being and complete nothingness, which relates to the spiritual paths in Christian and Buddhist traditions.