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I just want to know a synonym for the phrase(?) "Non-existent/Non-existence."

I am trying to find a word that expresses the idea that an idea/object never did exist, so I am trying to avoid the word "extinct." The sentence I had in mind goes along these lines:

"Today, the Idea of God's existence is as unbelievable as the idea of God's non-existence."

I want a technical/philosophical term.

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  • What do you want a synonym for? You shouldn't necessarily just look for a synonym for the sake of it, if "non-existence" is the clearest and least ambiguous term. It is a widely understood term and has the advantage of being the exact opposite of "existence". Also, I am no philosopher, but it seems that "non-existence" is a term commonly used by philosophers ( plato.stanford.edu/entries/nonexistent-objects ).
    – rjpond
    Sep 23, 2017 at 17:57

2 Answers 2

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Your own phrase is good with a slight alteration to the sentence:

Today, the idea of God's existence is as unbelievable as the idea that God never did exist.

It is usually better to avoid a highbrow word if you can write it simply, but one exception is when you need the technical term that a specialised audience expects.

Here is a suggestion:

Today, the idea of God's existence is as unbelievable as the idea of God's nihility.

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  • I think "nihility" is a suitable synonym. Thank you
    – A. Bayoumi
    Sep 24, 2017 at 5:03
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You started by asking for a synonym for "Non-existent/Non-existence". So in the context of your quote, we could say:

Today, the Idea of God's existence is as unbelievable as God's absence.

However, you also asked for a "technical term", so in light of that it might be better to reword as:

For many, the idea of God's existence is as unpopular today as atheism once was."


Side Notes

  1. I used "unpopular" rather than "unbelievable" because I suggest you at least consider using "unpopular" instead. I'll leave it to you to compare the meanings of these two words.

  2. I think it is important to mention that "the idea of God's non-existence" has been around as long as "the idea of God's existence" in terms of what we know from discovered written history. Both ideas were considered "unbelievable" during certain periods by specific cultures. There is documented evidence for both theism and atheism in various cultures as far back as such writings have been found and dated.

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