Essence or Existence

this thead is to vauge, I'm not even sure what we're debating

expand on the concept please, I've been locking threads like this recently

Sorry. This is a metaphysical argument actually that states "Which comes first essence of a thing or its existence?"

How can something have "essence" if it doesn't exist?

How can something have "essence" if it doesn't exist?

Hey, Imu. Can you explain your pen-name? It's kinda strange. What does 'Imuthis' mean to you?

"Existence Precedes Essence"
Sartre's slogan — "existence precedes essence" — may serve to introduce what is most distinctive of existentialism, namely, the idea that no general, non-formal account of what it means to be human can be given, since that meaning is decided in and through existing itself. Existence is "self-making-in-a-situation" (Fackenheim 1961:37). In contrast to other entities, whose essential properties are fixed by the kind of entities they are, what is essential to a human being — what makes her who she is — is not fixed by her type but by what she makes of herself, who she becomes.[4] The fundamental contribution of existential thought lies in the idea that one's identity is constituted neither by nature nor by culture, since to "exist" is precisely to constitute such an identity. It is in light of this idea that key existential notions such as facticity, transcendence (project), alienation, and authenticity must be understood.

Imuthis, maybe you should read some Sartre, Kierkegaard, Camus, and Nietzsche.


from- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

How can something have "essence" if it doesn't exist?

then I guess the awnser is no

Religious Answer: You don't exist till god creates you

Science Answer: You don't exist until you are conceived

That's the conflict. How about inventions? An inventor did have an essence of that particular invention before it came into existence. Before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone he did have an essence of what a telephone is. He didn't just put some mechanical parts together and suddenly, Whoala! this is a telephone!