Editing Reality (section)

=== Being ===
The nature of [[being]] is a perennial topic in metaphysics. For instance, [[Parmenides]] taught that reality was a single unchanging Being, whereas [[Heraclitus]] wrote that all things flow. The 20th-century philosopher [[Heidegger]] thought previous philosophers have lost sight of the question of Being (qua Being) in favour of the questions of beings (existing things), so he believed that a return to the Parmenidean approach was needed. An [[ontological catalogue]] is an attempt to list the fundamental constituents of reality. The question of whether or not [[existence]] is a [[wikt:predicate|predicate]] has been discussed since the Early Modern period, not least in relation to the [[ontological argument for the existence of God]]. Existence, ''that'' something is, has been contrasted with ''[[essence]]'', the question of ''what'' something is.
Since existence without essence seems blank, it associated with [[nothingness]] by philosophers such as Hegel. [[Nihilism]] represents an extremely negative view of being, the [[absolute (philosophy)|absolute]] a positive one.