Essence
| Category | Philosophy |
|---|---|
| Depth | Standard |
| Article type | local Catholic reference article |
Definition
Essence is what a thing is: the nature expressed in an adequate answer to the question, “What kind of thing is this?” Knowing that a living thing is a horse tells us more than knowing its colour or its owner. Its essence concerns its kind of reality, rather than every fact that happens to be true of this individual.
Catholic usage
We regularly distinguish what something is from how it happens to be. A person can learn a language, lose weight or move house while remaining the same human being. These changes matter, but none creates a new human nature. Conversely, the destruction of a living organism is more than a change of address or colour.
The distinction helps theology avoid confusion between nature and personal identity. Asking what humanity is differs from asking who this person is. The two questions concern the same individual, but their answers cannot simply be exchanged. An essence is not a second person hidden inside the first.
Doctrinal context
For a bodily substance, the Aristotelian-Thomistic account includes matter and form in its nature. Humanity is not merely a soul using an unrelated body; human nature is bodily and rational. The nature therefore cannot be defined adequately by listing only outward measurements or only interior experiences.
Essence also differs from existence. We can understand what a phoenix is supposed to be without discovering that any phoenix exists. This shows a distinction in our understanding. Aquinas makes the stronger metaphysical claim that a creature's essence is not its act of existing. Establishing that stronger claim requires an argument about actual things and their dependence, not merely an example from fiction.
Theological language must also distinguish a shared nature from an independently existing universal. Human beings share humanity; this does not require a separate human being called Humanity from whom each receives a physical slice.
Distinctions and safeguards
An essential feature is not simply a feature that someone values most. A person's talents are precious without defining the whole human species. Nor does limited knowledge of an essence justify pretending that any definition is complete. Some classifications remain uncertain and should be investigated.
Does a common human nature erase individual differences?
No. It explains why different people are all human; it does not explain away their histories, relationships and choices. Equal humanity is compatible with considerable difference in ability and circumstance. The distinction can protect a vulnerable person: losing the ability to perform a particular action does not by itself turn that person into a different kind of being.