Ibn Taymiyya on Essence and Existence

Ibn Taymiyya on Essence and Existence

 

Ibn Taymiyya argues that the notion of  “essence” only exists in the mind and does not have an independent existence outside the mind. For any externally existing object, its essence and reality are synonymous and include all its attributes essential for its existence. The mind can conceive of an object’s essence separate from its existence, but only occurs in the mind and cannot in the external world. Therefore, there is no ontological difference between its existence and what it fundamentally is. In other words, an entity’s existence, including all attributes, defines its essence and constitutes its ontological reality in the external world. Furthermore, he argues that while objects are composed of matter and have a specific form, their form does not exist independently. According to Ibn Taymiyya, the only entity that exists in the external world is the material object itself with its specific form. The form cannot exist separately and is only conceived as separate due to the abstracting function of the mind. 

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