What if there were No Existence?

According to strict physicalists, when a person dies, all of his sensory faculties cease to function, and with them, his existence as a conscious being vanishes.  According to physicalism, for the person who has died, there is only oblivion:  no thoughts, no perceptions, nothing.  It is for him as if he had never existed, and indeed, as if there never had been any existence of anything.

While we can describe such a state, we cannot really imagine it.  To do so would be to imagine not being able to imagine.  Less so, perhaps, can we imagine what it would be like if there were no existence at all.

 

Before we go further, we need to appreciate the overwhelming impact of language on this discussion.  The topic of existence is fraught with linguistic traps and pitfalls.  For example, when we ask, what if existence did not exist(?), then we are using the word, existence, to define itself.  Doing so is grammatically awkward, if not forbidden, and leads to ambiguities that do not enlighten the subject matter.

 

It has been said of consciousness that, without it, the universe might exist, but if so, then with no one to know it exists, it might as well not.  As before, we cannot truly imagine such a state of being, since our consciousness cannot adequately imagine the absence of any consciousness.  The phrase, “it might as well not,” infers purpose and meaning to reality, but these are denied by strict physicalists.  While some claim that there is no empiric purpose and meaning to anything, this is very akin, if not identical, to imagining the absence of imagination.

 

This brings us to an ontological question:  if nothing can exist without first, the existence of existence itself, then existence itself seems to be the ultimate reality.  But this, too, is circular.  It is to ask, is reality real?  Linguistically awkward, or even forbidden.

 

It is also pointless to ask, how did existence come into existence?  In order for it to have done so, there must have been in “existence” something that could bring existence into existence.  Again, the linguistics forbid further meaningful discussion.

 

Then, there is the theological question, which is also appropriate for Idealists to ask (with modification).  It is the often-asked question of, if God created everything, then what created God?  The fallacy of such a question is revealed by considering the central point of a circle, the point being defined by geometry as having dimensions of zero, and no shape:  what is the center of the center?  If the center is the center, then the center itself has no center.

 

If God (or the universal consciousness) is the Creator, then God Himself is uncreated.   
There is an even more perplexing idea, which is, if God gave rise to all of existence, then He gave rise to existence itself.  This makes moot the question, does God exist?  He transcends even existence.

Finally (hooray, the torment is almost over!) there is the thought, must there be existence?  Is it even possible for there not to be existence?  While many people treat this as a yes or no question, it is not so simple.

 

If there is a simple answer, I suggest this one:  There are some things we can never know.

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