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essence

English translation: essence

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:essence
English translation:essence
Entered by: Jana Cole

07:58 May 20, 2014
French to English translations [PRO]
Philosophy
French term or phrase: essence
The meaning of essence in this context.
This is a philosophical discussion about democracy. The word essence is on the third line .

La copule « est » n’a ici valeur que de définition : elle porte sur l’emploi des mots, non sur la nature des choses. Elle ne constate pas l’identité du visé et de l’accompli, mais se borne à les proclamer identiques. Il est donc vrai de dire que la démocratie n’a pas d’ ***essence***, mais cette formule reçoit maintenant un sens précis : même si la « démocratie » réalisée entretient un certain rapport avec la « démocratie » projetée, elle n’actualise pas un projet préexistant.
Jana Cole
United States
Local time: 17:37
essence
Explanation:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essence :
"In philosophy, essence is the attribute or set of attributes that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. Essence is contrasted with accident: a property that the entity or substance has contingently, without which the substance can still retain its identity. The concept originates with Aristotle, who used the Greek expression to ti ên einai (literally "the what it was to be") or sometimes the shorter phrase to ti esti (literally "the what it is") for the same idea. This phrase presented such difficulties for his Latin translators that they coined the word essentia (English "essence") to represent the whole expression. For Aristotle and his scholastic followers, the notion of essence is closely linked to that of definition (horismos)."


Here it means that there is no democracy "as such": democracy has no fundamental attributes outside those found in a specific instance of a particular democracy.
Selected response from:

John Holland
France
Local time: 02:37
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +8essence
John Holland
3sustance/solidity
Barbara2014
3fundamental state of being
Marie-Pascale Wersinger


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
sustance/solidity


Explanation:
essence dans le sens de existence, présence solide

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Note added at 23 min (2014-05-20 08:21:39 GMT)
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SUBSTANCE, not sustance, excusez-moi

Barbara2014
Italy
Local time: 02:37
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian
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38 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +8
essence


Explanation:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essence :
"In philosophy, essence is the attribute or set of attributes that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. Essence is contrasted with accident: a property that the entity or substance has contingently, without which the substance can still retain its identity. The concept originates with Aristotle, who used the Greek expression to ti ên einai (literally "the what it was to be") or sometimes the shorter phrase to ti esti (literally "the what it is") for the same idea. This phrase presented such difficulties for his Latin translators that they coined the word essentia (English "essence") to represent the whole expression. For Aristotle and his scholastic followers, the notion of essence is closely linked to that of definition (horismos)."


Here it means that there is no democracy "as such": democracy has no fundamental attributes outside those found in a specific instance of a particular democracy.

John Holland
France
Local time: 02:37
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 28

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  schevallier
11 mins
  -> Thank you, schevallier
neutral  Barbara2014: From Oxford Universal Dictionary: , Essence, Substance, that by which anything subsist, that which constitutes the being of a thing, either as a conceptual or as a real, entity. Couldn't it be used whit the same meaning?
12 mins
  -> Thank you, Barbara. While different philosophers have different ideas about how "substance," "being," and "essence" relate to one another, I think the author here is concerned with what is essential vs. what is accidental. Also see: http://ur1.ca/hcpzf
agree  B D Finch
41 mins
  -> Thank you, B D
agree  Anca Florescu-Mitchell
2 hrs
  -> Thank you, Anca
agree  Helen Shiner
2 hrs
  -> Thank you, Helen
agree  Verginia Ophof
3 hrs
  -> Thank you, Verginia
agree  philgoddard
4 hrs
  -> Thank you, philgoddard
agree  Francis Marche
13 hrs
  -> Thank you, Francis
agree  Melissa McMahon: exactly: "democracy has no essence"
15 hrs
  -> Thank you, Melissa
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2 days 10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
fundamental state of being


Explanation:
democracy has no "fundamental state of being" because it is only a project being carried out according to this text

Marie-Pascale Wersinger
Local time: 02:37
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in EnglishEnglish
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