Definition

Definition

Existence

In common usage, existence is the world of which we are aware through our senses and persists independently without them. In philosophy the word has a more specialized meaning, and is often contrasted with essence which tends to individuate different forms of existence as well as different identity conditions for objects and properties. Philosophers investigate questions such as "What exists?" "How do we know?" "To what extent are the senses a reliable guide to existence?" "What is the meaning, if any, of assertions of the existence of categories, ideas, and abstractions."

The word "existence" comes from the Latin word existere ...