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Full Idea
According to the laws of true logic, we must never ask about the existence of anything until we first understand its essence.
Gist of Idea
Essence must be known before we discuss existence
Source
René Descartes (Reply to First Objections [1641], 108)
Book Ref
Descartes,René: 'Meditations on First Philosophy etc.', ed/tr. Cottingham,John [CUP 1986], p.88
| 3635 | Essence must be known before we discuss existence [Descartes] |
| 6916 | For Kant, essence is mental and a mere idea, and existence is the senses and mere appearance [Kant, by Feuerbach] |
| 5650 | Reason is just abstractions, so our essence needs a subjective 'leap of faith' [Kierkegaard, by Scruton] |
| 14808 | Over huge periods of time human character would change endlessly [Nietzsche] |
| 20130 | It is absurd to think you can change your own essence, like a garment [Nietzsche] |
| 15572 | Being what it is (essentia) must be conceived in terms of Being (existence) [Heidegger] |
| 6868 | 'Existence precedes essence' means we have no pre-existing self, but create it through existence [Sartre, by Le Poidevin] |
| 3842 | Existence before essence (or begin with the subjective) [Sartre] |
| 6705 | Existentialism may transcend our nature, unlike eudaimonism [Graham] |
| 20733 | Our 'existence' is how we create ourselves, unconstrained by any prior 'essence' [Aho] |