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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 are its essential features or qualities, which can be understood even if one does not know whether the entity exists. The main philosophical discipline studying existence is called ontology. According to the orthodox view, existence is a second-order property or a property of properties. For example, to say that lions exists means that the property of being a lion is possessed by an entity. A different view holds existence is a first-order property or a property of individuals. This means existence is similar to other properties of individuals, like color and shape. Alexius Meinong and his followers accept this idea and hold not all individuals have this property; they state 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. Various types of existence are discussed in academic literature. Singular existence is the existence of individual entities while general existence refers to the existence of concepts or universals. Other distinctions are between abstract and concrete existence; between possible, contingent, and necessary existence; and between physical and mental existence. A closely related issue is whether different types of entities exist in different ways or have different degrees of existence. A key question in ontology is whether there is a reason for existence in general or why anything exists at all. The concept of existence is relevant to various fields, including logic, mathematics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and existentialism. Definition and related terms Existence is the state of being real, and to exist means to have being or to participate in reality. Existence sets real entities apart from imaginary ones, and can refer both to individual entities or to the totality of reality. The word "existence" entered the English language in the late 14th century from old French and has its roots in the medieval Latin term ex(s)istere, which means "to stand forth", "to appear", and "to arise". Existence is studied by the subdiscipline of metaphysics known as ontology. The terms "being", "reality", and "actuality" are often used as synonyms of "existence", but the exact definition of existence and its connection to these terms is disputed. According to Alexius Meinong (1853–1920), all entities have being but not all entities have existence. He argues merely possible objects like Santa Claus have being but lack existence. Ontologist Takashi Yagisawa (20th century–present) contrasts existence with reality; he sees "reality" as the more-fundamental term because it equally characterizes all entities and defines existence as a relative term that connects an entity to the world it inhabits. According to Gottlob Frege (1848–1925), actuality is narrower than existence because only actual entities can produce and undergo changes, in contrast to non-actual existing entities like numbers and sets. Existence contrasts with nonexistence, which refers to a lack of reality. Whether objects can be divided into existent and nonexistent objects is a subject of controversy. This distinction is sometimes used to explain how it is possible to think of fictional objects like dragons and unicorns but the concept of nonexistent objects is not generally accepted; some philosophers say the concept is contradictory. Closely related contrasting terms are nothingness and nonbeing. Existence is commonly associated with mind-independent reality but this position is not universally accepted because there could also be forms of mind-dependent existence, such as the existence of an idea inside a person's mind. According to some idealists, this may apply to all of reality. Another contrast is made between existence and essence. Essence refers to the intrinsic nature or defining qualities of an entity. The essence of something determines what kind of entity it is and how it differs from other kinds of entities. Essence corresponds to what an entity is, while existence corresponds to the fact that it is. For instance, it is possible to understand what an object is and grasp its nature even if one does not know whether this object exists. According to some philosophers, like Edmund Husserl (1859–1938), existence is an elementary concept, meaning it cannot be defined in other terms without involving circularity. This would imply characterizing existence or talking about its nature in a non-trivial manner may be difficult or impossible. Disputes about the nature of existence are reflected in the distinction between thin and thick concepts of existence. Thin concepts of existence understand existence as a logical property that every existing thing shares; they do not include any substantial content about the metaphysical implications of having existence. According to one view, existence is the same as the logical property of self-identity. This view articulates a thin concept of existence because it merely states what exists is identical to itself without discussing any substantial characteristics of the nature of existence. Thick concepts of existence encompass a metaphysical analysis of what it means that something exists and what essential features existence implies. According to one proposal, to exist is to be present in space and time, and to have effects on other things. This definition is controversial because it implies abstract objects such as numbers do not exist. George Berkeley (1685–1753) gave a different thick concept of existence; he stated: "to be is to be perceived", meaning all existence is mental. According to some philosophers, there is a difference between entities and the fundamental characteristics that make them the entities they are. Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) introduced this concept; he calls it the ontological difference and contrasts individual beings with being. According to this view, being is not an entity but the background context that makes all individual entities intelligible. Types of existing entities Different types of existing entities are discussed in academic literature. Many discussions revolve around defining those types, the existence or nonexistence of entities of a specific type, the ways entities of different types are related to each other, and whether some types are more fundamental than others. Examples are the existence or nonexistence of souls; whether there are abstract, fictional, and universal entities; and the existence or nonexistence of possible worlds and objects besides the actual world. Singular and general There is a distinction between singular existence and general existence. Singular existence is the existence of individual entities. For example, the sentence "Angela Merkel exists" expresses the existence of one particular .... Discover the Kelly James Clark Jeffrey Koperski popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Kelly James Clark Jeffrey Koperski books.