Finding The True Essence of Life

The Origin of Essence
It’s commonly agreed that the notion of essence began with Aristotle.

However, a philosophical prototype can also be found in Plato’s Euthyphro. In that book Plato argued that physical entities acquire their essential being when they instantiate what he called Forms. For Plato this meant that Forms are abstract universals which exist before any concrete particulars instantiate them. Plato therefore saw Forms as the paradigms of the particulars (i.e., things) which we experience in everyday life.

Aristotle himself departed from Plato in that he attempted to discover the non-capitalised form of an individual physical entity. Aristotle called such a thing ousia or substance. In other words, Aristotle believed that Forms (or universals) must be instantiated in order to have being.

The Muslim philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sina) initiated an important distinction between being

and essence.

One of his theses was that ‘Being’ indicates ‘being-real’, while ‘Essence’ indicates the Whatness of a Being.

Being is to be understood as the act of some particular being; it is not a property of its essence; and it is related to its essence as an accident, even though not a categorical one. On the other hand, the essence has its own value: it is indifferent to determinations such as universality or individuality, and mental or real ways of being, and can be thought of without them. So essence and being are distinct. This teaching about the accidentality of the Being of created beings was accepted by Algazel (Al Ghazali) and Moses Maimonides, but rejected vigorously by Averroes (Ibn Rushd).

Hence essence also has three denotations.

In God, essence is pure act itself. In angels, essence is form. In material creatures, essence is composed of potency and form. Form is related to matter as insight to sensible data.

Essences are also divided into essences pure and simple, and essences qualified in some sense. An essence pure and simple is the essence of being pure and simple. An essence in a qualified sense is the essence of anything that pertains to a being pure and simple.

Esse is the act of a being. The act of being is the act of an essence. In God, esse is pure act itself. In angels it is an act limited by form; in material creatures it is an act limited by essence composed of matter and form. There is a real, adequate, minor distinction between finite essence and contingent act of existence. There is a real, inadequate, minor distinction between a finite being and its essence. That which is, in other words, is not a finite essence, but a being composed of essence and act of existence. In God, being, essence and act of existence are the same. But in a creature, being pure and simple is indeed that which is; but it is by essence and act of existence that the creature is a being.

If you believe that the goal of human life is to maximize happiness, then you are a budding Aristotelian. Aristotle was the first philosopher to inquire into subjective happiness, and he understood its essence better and more clearly than anyone since.

According to Aristotle, happiness is not about physical well-being but rather a condition of lasting satisfaction, which should be the ultimate objective of human life. We achieve happiness through identifying a purpose, discovering our potential, and adjusting our behaviour to become our best selves. With these goals in mind, Aristotle devised a humane programme for happiness that has endured the test of time, incorporating much of what we now connect with the ideal life: significance, creativity, and positivity. Most importantly, Aristotle saw essence as approachable to the great majority of us—but only if we choose to commit ourselves to its conception he demonstrated this by example.