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In philosophy, essence is the attribute or set of attributes that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. Essence is contrasted with accident: a property that the entity or substance has contingency, without which the substance can still retain its identity. The concept originates with Aristotle, who used the Greek expression ''to ti ên einai'' (τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι,〔Aristotle, ''Metaphysics'', 1029b〕 literally meaning "the what it was to be" and corresponding to the scholastic term quiddity) or sometimes the shorter phrase ''to ti esti'' (τὸ τί ἐστι,〔Aristotle, ''Metaphysics'', 1030a〕 literally meaning "the what it is" and corresponding to the scholastic term haecceity) for the same idea. This phrase presented such difficulties for its Latin translators that they coined the word ''essentia'' (English "essence") to represent the whole expression. For Aristotle and his scholastic followers, the notion of essence is closely linked to that of definition (ὁρισμός ''horismos'').〔(S. Marc Cohen, "Aristotle's Metaphysics" ), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, accessed 20 April 2008.〕 In the history of western thought, essence has often served as a vehicle for doctrines that tend to individuate different forms of existence as well as different identity conditions for objects and properties; in this eminently logical meaning, the concept has given a strong theoretical and common-sense basis to the whole family of logical theories based on the "possible worlds" analogy set up by Leibniz and developed in the intensional logic from Carnap to Kripke, which was later challenged by "extensionalist" philosophers such as Quine. ==Ontological status== In his dialogues Plato suggests that concrete beings acquire their essence through their relations to "Forms"abstract universals logically or ontologically separate from the objects of sense perception. These Forms are often put forth as the models or paradigms of which sensible things are "copies". When used in this sense, the word form is often capitalized.〔"Chapter 28: Form" of ''The Great Ideas: A Synopticon of Great Books of the Western World'' (Vol. II). ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' (1952), p. 526-542. This source states that Form or Idea get capitalized according to this convention when they refer "to that which is separate from the characteristics of material things and from the ideas in our mind."〕 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. Typical examples of Forms given by Plato are largeness, smallness, equality, unity, goodness, beauty and justice. Aristotle moves the Forms of Plato to the nucleus of the individual thing, which is called ''ousía'' or substance. Essence is the ''tí'' of the thing, the ''to tí en einai''. Essence corresponds to the ousia's definition; essence is a real and physical aspect of the ousia (Aristotle, ''Metaphysics'', I). According to nominalists (Roscelin of Compiègne, William of Ockham, Bernard of Chartres), universals aren't concrete entities, just voice's sounds; there are only individuals: "''nam cum habeat eorum sententia nihil esse praeter individuum ()''" (Roscelin, ''De gener. et spec.'', 524). Universals are 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 et speciebus''). According to Edmund Husserl essence is ''ideal''. However, ''ideal'' means that essence is the intentional object of the conscience. Essence is interpreted as ''sense'' (E. Husserl, ''Ideas pertaining to a pure phenomenology and to a phenomenological philosophy'', paragraphs 3 and 4). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Essence」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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