Beethoven' Deafness - Certification of Absolute Victory?

We are all aware of the unspeakable tragedy that struck Beethoven; and it has, of course, been written about by countless historians and musicologists for over two centuries.
For the most part, the story of this tragedy is that of Tragedy, and nothing more, which for the casual reader is where this issue comes to rest.
Perhaps one might consider the ramifications of this tragedy beyond itself; that is, not just the end, but also , a means to an end, which gives the world the sublime gift we call Beethoven.
A question arises in my mind; namely, would the music of this composer have been what we know it to be, had he not lost his hearing? Would, in some arcane way, his music have taken a different path, a different direction, even if it were a subtle difference, had there been no such affliction striking him?
Certainly, the music which ultimately gives us the metaphysical vision of this genius was committed to paper after his deafness had become total. As brilliant and provocative as his music was before 1798, before the deafness began; even taking into account the totally predictable development that his music would have undergone, due to his great gifts, the question beguiles me; again, would his music have been what it is now, and has been, for these past two centuries?
As a composer, I know how vital, how elemental in importance it is to have that indefinable wall of insularity envelope me during the mode that induces me to write. The substance and power of that insularity is the ultimate measure of what the result is. In other words, the essence of insulation engendered by the genius composer such as Beethoven is a world more efficient and more powerful than that of a lesser composer. I know that, as I write, I am aware that whatever insulation I possess gives me the knowledge that I have something to "say" in my music.
Well, just consider what the nature and power of that protective 'bubble' of a Beethoven must be like - one can only imagine.
Thusly, I am driven back to the issue of total deafness, and the results emanating from the process of writing that Beethoven had undergone. No other great composer has ever been the receiver of such an event as that which Beethoven experienced.
I am not for a moment projecting an argument on behalf of deafness as any kind of 'enhancer' for a composer. I am merely posing a question as it pertains to the Beethoven Experience; namely, what is known of the personality, the inner spirit-in short, of Beethoven the man, what with the combination of his particular strengths and weaknesses, coupled with his great gifts, with the terrible weight of a silent world surrounding him - would his music been different had his hearing remained?
Of course, a question which can never be definitively answered.