Why are there beings rather than nothing?

is a question that is not looking or an answer; but is simply trying to jolt us from our absorption in the everyday presence of beings.

“Why are there beings rather than nothing?” This is the opening question of the semester. Heidegger is not looking for an answer from either religion or physics. Indeed, he is not looking for an answer at all, but is simply trying to jolt us from our absorption in the everyday presence of beings.

is a question about which to wonder is part of being human, part of feeling the profundity of fundamental moods.

Wondering about this question is part of being human. “Why are there beings rather than nothing?” Each of us is touched by this question from time to time, though usually we suppress it. Only a handful of humans asks it explicitly. The question comes upon us in fundamental moods: in moments of profound despair, rejoicing, or boredom, the world seems to detach itself from us, and we wonder that it exists at all.

why are there beings rather than nothing?, n.Definitions

why are there beings rather than nothing?