Why The One Did Not Remain Within Itself

In a fascinating forthcoming article, Mark Johnston adapts Plotinus’s ancient question to the question of why God (classically conceived) would create anything at all. As Johnson shows, the question forces us to grapple with such challenging matters as infinite and incommensurate value, the consistency of ‘arbitrary' choice and perfect practical rationality, and the Principle of Sufficient Reason. I find Johnston’s discussion insightful but incomplete in important ways. After saying why, I attempt to improve upon it.