Consciousness as the Horizon of Existence: A Post-Ontological Framework

This paper advances a radical epistemological thesis: existence is not a meta- physical fact preceding consciousness, but an event of givenness that becomes meaningful only within and through consciousness itself. I argue that God is not an external metaphysical entity, but consciousness itself in its reflexive self-knowing capacity. Unlike traditional idealism, this position rejects all hier- archical distinctions between appearance and reality, all temporal narratives of “before consciousness,” and all appeals to external verification. Through systematic phenomenological analysis, formal argumentation, and detailed en- gagement with objections, I demonstrate that: (1) the concept of “external to consciousness” is structurally incoherent; (2) the problem of other minds can be resolved through a non-solipsistic universal consciousness framework; (3) a robust ethics emerges from dialogical coherence without external foundation; and (4) this position is empirically grounded, philosophically rigorous, and ex- istentially livable. The paper concludes by showing how this framework trans- forms classical problems in metaphysics, ethics, and philosophy of religion.