What exists besides you ?

I love this question.

Let's start with:

- I exist (I think therefore I am)

- If I exist, then existence is a  actual (real). That is to say that 'things' CAN exist, since I obvious do.

- I have not always existed, therefore I came INTO existence at some point.

- I am not the SOURCE of ALL exist, since I came to exist. I can't be the source of my existence if my own existence came into being. 

- I am therefore a 'contingent being' - a being whose existence is contingent on another source.

- Therefore I am not pure existence - what St. Acquainas would call 'esse' 

- Therefore the SOURCE of ALL contingent existences (chain of events that led to my own existence) must be PURE existence itself - 'esse' and NOT contingent on any other existence.

- Therefore at least 1 OTHER thing MUST actually, in reality, exist, which is PURE existence and does not owe its own existence to other things (not contingent)

- IF a non-contingent source of existence truly exists - then it can bring OTHER things into existence besides me. There is no necessary restrictions on 'esse' which would limit it to bring only ME into existence, but nothing else. 

- This other source of existence must have always existed, since, unlike me, it is not contingent on other things.

I am not a trained philosopher but if we continue down this line of reasoning, while we may not prove that everything truly exists, we WILL eventually arrive at some other attributes for the source of all contingent reality.

Mainly that this 'source' must be

- Timeless

- Formless

- Eternal

- All Knowing

- All Powerful

- Creator of all physical reality

Basically - we arrive at the universal definition of the monotheistic God.

From my point of view, many many things, people and living things.

Prove me wrong.

Nothing. I am all.

Either nothing else or everything.

And, now that you know that, what are you going to have for dinner tonight?