Philosophy,+The+questions+of+Existence+and+Essence

=The Questions of Existence and Essence= (Return to Basic Philosophy ) One of the many great questions of philosophy is the debate between Existance and Essence. How you feel about these two arguable aspects defines a large part of your own philosophic beliefs.

__**What are Existance and Essence**__: Existance represents the world we face. Its the things that don't go away because we wish they would. The hardness of bricks, the taste of coffee, the bills, and the people. Existance represents what we face in the world. Essence is basically all of our ideas (whether facts or not) about why things are this way and how they ought to be. Existance realizes that there is a body. Essence believes (for some people) that we also have a spirit as well. Existance states that the rose is red and essence is often the voice that believes the rose was put there for a purpose. Perhaps for us. __**Various combinations of these ideas**__: Existentialism (This is in general the belief that there is no reason to life. There is nothing but the hard cold reality and if you can't handle the hardness and coldness of that fact you might as well invent a reason and purpose to existence to help you get by.) Nihilism (Denial of meaning.) Most Religions (Christian, Buddhist, Hindu) (Most believe in some kind of spirits, in God (or Gods), and that He/They have a purpose for us and therefore we also have a purpose which comes from God or the Gods.) Eastern Mysticism (These people specifically believe that reality is only a dream and thus it isn't real. Therefore Essence takes the only prominence within philosophy of life.)
 * Absence of Essence**
 * Combination of the Two**
 * Absence of Existance**

__**The Human Situation**__: The human situation appears to be a struggle between what //is// (existence) and what //ought// (essence) to be. Not many deny the actuality of existance outright and so a vast majority of the debate rests around the applications of essence upon reality. Does essence even exist and if so how fdoes it interact with the life we solidly face? The question is handled in many and various ways. The following are several of the stances and issues dealt with by these different schools of belief. It will be beneficial to study and consider each as you engage in asking yourself where you yourself stand and why you stand there.
 * Normative (With Essence) situations – Alternatives, Choice, Freedom, Values, Standards, Ideals, Obligation, Responsibility
 * Existential (Without Essence) predicament – Finitude, Alienation, Anxiety, Guilt, Ambivalence, Thrownness

(Return to Basic Philosophy )