Essence

Essence

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Essence=20 (disambiguation).

In philosophy, = essence is=20 the attribute or set of attributes that make an object or substance = what it=20 fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity,=20 and without which it loses its iden= tity.=20 Essence is contrasted with accident:= =20 a property that the object or substance has contingent= ly,=20 without which the substance can still retain its identity. The concept=20 originates with Aristotle, who used the Greek expression to ti = =C3=AAn einai,=20 literally 'the what it was to be', or sometimes the shorter phrase to = ti=20 esti, literally 'the what it is,' for the same idea. This phrase = presented=20 such difficulties for his Latin translators that they coined the word=20 essentia (English "essence") to represent the whole expression. = For=20 Aristotle and his scholastic=20 followers the notion of essence is closely linked to that of definition=20 (horismos).^[1=
]

In the history of western thought, essence has often served as a = vehicle for=20 doctrines that tend to individuate different forms of existence as well = as=20 different identity conditions for objects and properties; in this = eminently=20 logical meaning, the concept has given a strong theoretical and = common-sense=20 basis to the whole family of logical theories based on the "possible = worlds"=20 analogy set up by Leibniz=20 and developed in the intensional logic from Carnap=20 to Kripke, which was = later=20 challenged by "extensionalist" philosophers such as Quine.<= /P>

Contents

1 Ontological = status

2 Existentialism

3 In=20 metaphysics

4 Marxism's=20 essentialism

5 Buddhism

6 Hinduism

7 See=20 also

8 Related=20 Concepts

9 Notes and=20 references

10 External=20 links

[edit]=20 Ontological = status

In his dialogues Plato suggests that = concrete=20 beings acquire their essence through their relations to "Forms" = (=CE=B5=CE=B9=CE=B4=CE=B5:=20 eide) - abstract universals logically or ontologically separate = from the=20 objects of sense perception. These Forms are often put forth as the = models or=20 paradigms of which sensible things are "copies". When used in this = sense, the=20 word form is often capitalized.^[2=
]=20 Sensible bodies are in constant flux and imperfect and hence, by Plato's = reckoning, less real than the Forms which are eternal, unchanging and = complete.=20 Typical examples of Forms given by Plato are largeness, smallness, = equality,=20 unity, goodness, beauty and justice.

Aristotle moves the = Forms of=20 Plato to the nucleus of the individual thing, which is called = ous=C3=ADa or=20 substance. Essence is the t=C3=AD of the thing, the to t=C3=AD = en einai.=20 Essence corresponds to the ousia's definition; essence is a real and = physical=20 aspect of the ous=C3=ADa. (Aristotle, "Metaphisic", I)

According to nominalists=20 (Roscelin= =20 of Compi=C3=A8gne, William=20 of Ockham, Bernard=20 of Chartres), universals aren't concrete entities, just voice's = sounds;=20 there are only individuals: "nam cum habeat eorum sententia nihil = esse=20 praeter individuum(...)" (Roscelin, De gener. et spec., 524). = Universals are=20 words that can to call several individuals; for example the word "homo". = Therefore a universal is reduced to a sound's emission. (Roscelin, "De = generibus=20 et speciebus")

According to Edmund=20 Husserl essence is ideal. However, ideal means that = essence is=20 the intentional object of the conscience. Essence is interpreted as=20 sense. (E. Husserl, "Ideas pertaining to a pure phenomenology and = to a=20 phenomenological philosophy", paragraphs 3 and 4).

[edit]=20 Existentialism

Main article: Meaning=20 (existential)

Existentialism = was coined=20 by Jean-Paul=20 Sartre's statement that for human beings "existenc= e=20 precedes essence." In as much as "essence" is a cornerstone of all = metaphysical = philosophy and=20 the grounding of Rationalism,=20 Sartre's statement was a repudiation of the philosophical system that = had come=20 before him (and, in particular, that of Husserl, Hegel, = and Heidegger).=20 Instead of "is-ness" generating "actuality," he argued that existence = and=20 actuality come first, and the essence is derived afterward. For Kierkegaard, it is = the=20 individual person who is the supreme moral entity, and the personal, = subjective=20 aspects of human life that are the most important; also, for Kierkegaard = all of=20 this had religious implications.^[3=
]

[edit]=20 In = metaphysics

"Essence," in metaphysics, is often synonymous with the soul,=20 and some existentialists argue that individuals gain their souls and = spirits=20 after they exist, that they develop their souls and spirits during their = lifetimes. For Kierkegaard, however, the emphasis was upon essence as = "nature."=20 For him, there is no such thing as "human nature" that determines how a = human=20 will behave or what a human will be. First, he or she exists, and then = comes=20 attribute. Jean-Paul=20 Sartre's more materialist and skeptical existentialism furthered = this=20 existentialist tenet by flatly refuting any metaphysical essence, any = soul, and=20 arguing instead that there is merely existence, with attributes as = essence.

Thus, in existentialist discourse, essence can refer to physical = aspect or=20 attribute to the ongoing being of a person (the character or internally=20 determined goals), or to the infinite inbound within the human (which = can be=20 lost, can atrophy, or can be developed into an equal part with the = finite),=20 depending upon the type of existentialist discourse.

[edit]=20 Marxism's=20 essentialism

Karl=20 Marx was a follower of Hegel's=20 thought, and he, too, developed a philosophy in reaction to his master. = In his=20 early work, Marx used Aristotelian=20 style teleology and = derived a=20 concept of humanity's essential nature. Marx's Economic=20 and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 describe a = theory of=20 alienation based on human existence being completely different from = human=20 essence. Marx said human nature was social, and that humanity had the = distinct=20 essence of free activity and conscious thought.

Some scholars, such as Philip Kain, have argued that Marx abandoned = the idea=20 of a human essence, but many other scholars point to Marx's continued = discussion=20 of these ideas despite the decline of terms such as essence and = alienation in=20 his later work.

[edit]=20 Buddhism

Within the Madhyamaka=20 school of Mahayana Buddhism, Candrakirti = identifies the=20 self=20 as:

an essence of things that does not depend on = others; it=20 is an intrinsic nature. The non-existence of that is selflessness.

=E2=80=94 Bodhisattvayogacary=C4=81catu=E1=B8=A5=C5=9Bataka=E1=B9= =ADik=C4=81=20 256.1.7^[=
4]

Buddhap=C4=81lita= adds,=20 while commenting on Nag=C4=81rjuna's=20 M=C5=ABlamadhyamakak=C4=81rik=C4=81,

What is the reality of things just as it is? It = is the=20 absence of essence. Unskilled persons whose eye of intelligence is = obscured by=20 the darkness of delusion conceive of an essence of things and then = generate=20 attachment and hostility with regard to them.

=E2=80=94Buddhap=C4=81lita-mula-madhyamaka-vrtti=20 P5242,73.5.6-74.1.2^[=
4]

For the Madhyamaka = Buddhists, 'Emptiness'=20 (also known as Anatta or Anatman) is = the strong=20 assertion that all phenomena are empty of any essence, and that=20 anti-essentialism lies at the root of Buddhist praxis and it is the = innate=20 belief in essence that is considered to be an afflictive = obscuration=20 which serves as the root of all=20 suffering. However, the Madhyamaka=20 also rejects the tenets of Idealism,=20 Materialism or Nihilism;=20 instead, the ideas of truth or existence, along with any=20 assertions that depend upon them are limited to their function within = the=20 contexts and conventions that assert them, possibly somewhat akin to Relativism or Pragmatism. For the = Madhyamaka, = replacement=20 paradoxes such as Ship=20 of Theseus are answered by stating that the Ship of Thesesus remains = so=20 (within the conventions that assert it) until it ceases to function as = the Ship=20 of Theseus.

Among the many canonical Buddhist sources articulating a = philosophical=20 "Examination of Essence," stands Nagarjuna's=20 Mulamadhyamaka= karika,=20 The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way. Chapter I examines the = Conditions of=20 Existence, while Chapter XV examines Essence in itself, difference, the ete= rnalist's=20 view and nihilist's=20 view of essence and non-essence.

[edit]=20 Hinduism

In understanding any individual personality, a distinction is made = between=20 one's Swadharma (essence) and Swabhava (mental habits and=20 conditionings of ego personality). Svabhava is the nature of a person, = which is=20 a result of his or her samskaras (impressions created in the mind due to = one's=20 interaction with the external world). These samskaras create habits and = mental=20 models and those become our nature. While there is another kind of = svabhava that=20 is a pure internal quality - smarana = - we are=20 here focusing only on the svabhava that was created due to samskaras = (because to=20 discover the pure, internal svabhava and smarana, one should become = aware of=20 one's samskaras and take control over them). Dharma=20 is derived from the root Dhr - to hold. It is that which holds an entity = together. That is, Dharma is that which gives integrity to an entity and = holds=20 the core quality and identity (essence), form and function of that = entity.=20 Dharma is also defined as righteousness and duty. To do one's dharma is = to be=20 righteous, to do one's dharma is to do one's duty (express one's = essence).[5= ]

[edit]=20 See also

Accident=20 (philosophy)
Avicenna
Essentialism
Fuzzy-trace=20 theory
Haecceity
Modal logic
Physical=20 ontology
Quiddity
Smarana<= /LI>
Theory=20 of forms

[edit]=20 Related = Concepts

Self = Actualization by Maslow

[edit]=20 Notes and=20 references

^= =20 S. Marc Cohen, "Aristotle's Metaphysics", Stanford=20 Encyclopedia of Philosophy, accessed 20 April 2008.
^= =20
"Chapter 28: Form" of The Great = Ideas: A=20 Synopticon of Great Books of the Western World (Vol. II). = Encyclopaedia=20 Britannica (1952), p. 526-542. This source states that Form or Idea = get=20 capitalized according to this convention when they refer "to that = which is=20 separate from the characteristics of material things and from the = ideas in our=20 mind."
^= =20 The Story of Philosophy, Bryan = Magee,=20 Dorling Kindersley Lond. 1998, ISBN= =20 0-7513-0590-1
^ ^<=
I>a=20 ^<=
I>b=20 Translations from "The Great Treatise = on the=20 Stages of the Path of Enlightenment", Vol. 3 by Tsong-Kha-Pa, Snow = Lion=20 Publications ISBN= =20 1-55939-166-9
^= =20 Prasadkaipa.com

[edit]=20 External = links

Maurice=20 De Wulf: "Nominalism, Realism, Conceptualism.", in: The = Catholic=20 Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company 1911.
Laboratory for Rational Decision Making

v t e Metaphysics

Metaphysici= ans	Parmenides Plato Aristotle Maimonides Kapila Plotinus Duns=20 Scotus Thomas=20 Aquinas Ren=C3=A9=20 Descartes John=20 Locke David=20 Hume Immanuel=20 Kant Isaac=20 Newton Arthur=20 Schopenhauer Baruch=20 Spinoza Georg= =20 W. F. Hegel George=20 Berkeley Gottfried= =20 Wilhelm Leibniz Henri=20 Bergson Friedrich=20 Nietzsche Charles=20 Sanders Peirce Ludwig=20 Wittgenstein Martin=20 Heidegger Alfred=20 N. Whitehead Bertrand=20 Russell Dorothy=20 Emmet G.=20 E. Moore Jean-Paul=20 Sartre Gilbert=20 Ryle Hilary=20 Putnam P.=20 F. Strawson R.=20 G. Collingwood Adolph=20 St=C3=B6hr Rudolf=20 Carnap Saul=20 Kripke Willard=20 V. O. Quine Donal= d=20 Davidson more=20 ...

Theo= ries	Anti-realism Cartes= ian=20 dualism Enactivism Free=20 will Liberty Materialism Meaning=20 of life Idealism Existentialism Essentialism Libert= arianism Determinism Naturalism<= /A> Monism Platonic=20 idealism Hindu=20 idealism Phenomenalism Nihilism Realism Physicalism M= OQ Relativism Scientific=20 realism Solipsism Subjectivism Substance=20 theory Type=20 theory Sankhya

Co= ncepts	Action Abstract=20 object Being Category=20 of being Causality Change = Choice Concept Cogito=20 ergo sum Embodied=20 cognition Entity Essence Existence Experience Form Idea Identity<= /LI> Information Insight Intelligence Intention Matter = Memetics Mind Meaning Mental=20 representation Modality Motion Necessity Notion = Object = Pattern Physical=20 object Perception Principle Properties Qualia Quality Reality Subject Soul Substance = Thought Time Truth Type= Universal Unobservable Value World=20 soul more = ...

Related articles	Cosmology Epistemology Ontology Teleology Philosophy= =20 of psychology Philosophy=20 of mind Philosophy=20 of self Philos= ophy=20 of space and time Axiology Theoretical=20 physics meta-

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Categories: =

Modal=20 logic
Aristotle
Essentialism<= /A>

Co= ncepts=20 in metaphysics
Philoso= phy=20 of life

Contents

[edit]=20 Ontological = status

[edit]=20 Existentialism

[edit]=20 In = metaphysics

[edit]=20 Marxism's=20 essentialism

[edit]=20 Buddhism

[edit]=20 Hinduism

[edit]=20 See also

[edit]=20 Related = Concepts

[edit]=20 Notes and=20 references

[edit]=20 External = links

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