The problem of what exists

Abstract

Popular multiverse models such as the one based on the string theory landscape require an underlying set of unexplained laws containing many specific features and highly restrictive prerequisites. I explore the consequences of relaxing some of these prerequisites with a view to discovering whether any of them might be justified anthropically. Examples considered include integer space dimensionality, the immutable, Platonic nature of the laws of physics and the no-go theorem for strong emergence. The problem of why some physical laws exist, but others which are seemingly possible do not, takes on a new complexion following this analysis, although it remains an unsolved problem in the absence of an additional criterion.