Before Being
A metaphysical inquiry into nothingness, becoming, and the mystery of being human.
At the edge of philosophy and existence, this book asks the most fundamental question: Why is there something rather than nothing?
Why is there something rather than nothing?
From that ancient, unsettling question, Before Being begins. This book does not treat nothingness as a metaphor, nor as a vacuum humming with possibility, but as the strictest absence: no space, no time, no law, no potential. Against this radical backdrop, Don asks whether such nothingness could ever have held — and what it means that we live in a world where being has prevailed.
The inquiry moves through philosophy, science, and theology, but refuses to rest in any single system. It follows two paths: emergence, the idea that being arises because nothing cannot endure, and intention, the possibility that being was given as a willed gift. Along the way, it confronts the silence of the universe, the enigma of consciousness, the fact of mortality, and the persistence of love.
Neither academic treatise nor popular simplification, Before Being is a work of metaphysical reflection written for thoughtful readers. It is an invitation to dwell with the mystery of existence — not to resolve it, but to live more attentively in its light.
From the Prologue
“Why is there something rather than nothing?
It is not a puzzle to be solved. It is the absence of anything that could be known. The question stands on the threshold where thought reaches the end of what it can compare. Most of the time, we live after the question has already been deferred. But underneath everything — beneath time, law, and presence — is the fact that anything exists at all. This book begins there.”
Table of Contents
The book unfolds in four parts, moving from the definition of nothingness to the question of intention, and finally to the human meaning of being.
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Chapter 1: No Where, No When, No How
Chapter 2: The Question That History Refused to Ask
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Chapter 3: The Inconceivability of Absolute Nothing
Chapter 4: When Form Follows Being
Chapter 5: When Foundations Disappear
Chapter 6: When Being Becomes Aware
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Chapter 7: When Being Is a Gift
Chapter 8: When Mind Comes First
Chapter 9: The Hiddenness of the Creator
Chapter 10: When Meaning Must Be Chosen
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Chapter 11: Living in the Wake of the Question
Chapter 12: When Time Becomes Mortal
Chapter 13: Love, Memory, and the Echo of Intention
Chapter 14: Living in the Light of Mystery
Available From
Before Being is available worldwide in hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions. Order online from Amazon or through Books2Read to find it at Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and other major ebook retailers. Print editions are also available to order through independent bookstores and libraries everywhere..
The Origins of Existence Series
Before Being is the first volume in the Origins of Existence Series, a trilogy exploring the deepest metaphysical questions of reality. While Vibrant Ages is dedicated to the science and practice of longevity, this series turns to the mystery beneath it: why existence is here at all.
Together, these projects reflect one vision: that to live long and well requires not only caring for the body, but also reckoning with the meaning of time, mortality, and being. Before Being begins that inquiry, opening a space where philosophy and existence meet.
About the Author
Don Howard, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist and philosopher whose work bridges science, metaphysics, and human meaning. He is the co-founder of Vibrant Ages, a company devoted to the science and practice of longevity. Before Being reflects a lifelong engagement with philosophy’s deepest question: why anything exists at all. Learn more