Editing Existence (section)

{{Short description|State of being real}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Being}}
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{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
[[File:Existential quantifier.svg|thumb|alt=Existential quantifier|The [[existential quantifier]] ∃ is often used in [[logic]] to express existence.]]

'''Existence''' is the state of having '''being''' or [[reality]] in contrast to '''nonexistence''' and [[nonbeing]]. Existence is often contrasted with [[essence]]: the essence of an [[entity]] is its essential features or qualities, which can be understood even if one does not know whether the entity exists.

[[Ontology]] is the philosophical discipline studying the nature and types of existence. Singular existence is the existence of individual entities while general existence refers to the existence of [[concepts]] or [[universals]]. Entities present in space and time have [[Abstract and concrete|concrete]] existence in contrast to abstract entities, like numbers and sets. Other distinctions are between [[Subjunctive possibility|possible]], [[Contingency (philosophy)|contingent]], and [[Metaphysical necessity|necessary]] existence and between [[Matter|physical]] and [[Mind|mental]] existence. The common view is that an entity either exists or not with nothing in between, but some philosophers say that there are degrees of existence, meaning that some entities exist to a higher degree than others.

The orthodox position in ontology is that existence is a second-order [[Property (philosophy)|property]] or a property of properties. For example, to say that lions exist means that the property of being a lion is possessed by an entity. A different view states that existence is a first-order property or a property of [[Particular|individuals]]. This means existence is similar to other properties of individuals, like color and shape. [[Alexius Meinong]] and his followers accept this idea and say that not all individuals have this property; they state that there are some individuals, such as [[Santa Claus]], that do not exist. Universalists reject this view; they see existence as a universal property of every individual.

The concept of existence has been discussed throughout the [[history of philosophy]] and already played a role in [[ancient philosophy]], including [[Presocratic philosophy]] in [[Ancient Greece]], [[Hindu philosophy|Hindu]] and [[Buddhist philosophy]] in [[Ancient India]], and [[Daoist philosophy]] in [[ancient China]]. It is relevant to fields such as [[logic]], [[mathematics]], [[epistemology]], [[philosophy of mind]], [[philosophy of language]], and [[existentialism]].