30 Phil, Chapter 16, Al-Farabi, Touchstone 41: Existence

Metaphysics asks what exists and how it exists. The debate over essence and existence centers on whether identity is fixed prior to life or formed through living.

Plato suggested that true essences exist independently in a realm of Forms. Aristotle rejected that realm and located form within the material world. Around 1000 CE, Avicenna argued that essence and existence are conceptually distinct, suggesting that essence can be understood apart from actual existence. In the 1900s, Sartre reversed the classical hierarchy and declared, “existence precedes essence,” meaning humans are not born with a predetermined identity — we become who we are through action.

Science has largely sided with a naturalized version of Aristotle and Sartre. We are born into a biological structure with constraints, but our personal identity emerges over time through interaction, memory, culture, and choice.

Essences are structured descriptions of patterns within reality, not preexisting metaphysical templates.

Within TST, existence is primary. Essences are structured descriptions of patterns within reality — not preloaded destinies.