Ousia
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Ousia (
The Ancient Greek term θεία ουσία (theia ousia; divine essence) was translated in Latin as essentia or substantia, and hence in English as essence or substance.[3]
Etymology
The term οὐσία is an
From οὐσία (essence), philosophical and theological term οὐσιότης (essentiality) was also derived. It was used by
Philosophy
In Book IV of Metaphysics Aristotle explores the nature and attributes of being (ousia). Aristotle divides the things that there are, or "beings," into categories. Aristotle calls these substances and argues that there are many senses in which a thing may be said "to be" but it is related to one central point and is ambiguous.[11]
In Metaphysics, Aristotle states that everything which is healthy is related to health (primary substance) as in one sense because it preserves health and in the other because it is capable of it. Without the primary substance (health) we would not be able to have the secondary substances (anything related to health). While all the secondary substances are deemed "to be" it is in relation to the primary substance.[11]
The question, what is being, is seeking an answer to something "that is." A contemporary example in rhetoric would be to look at a color. Using white as an example, when we define a color, we define it by association. Snow is white. Paper is white. A cow is white. But what is white? While we are saying things that are white, we are not defining what white is without qualification. Ousia is thus the answer to the question of "what is being" when the question is without qualification. The unqualified answer of what is white is the ousia of white.
Much later,
In the 20th century, the Australian philosopher
Christian theology
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The concept of θεία οὐσία (theia ousia; divine essence) is one of the most important concepts in
New Testament
The word ousia is used in the New Testament only in relation to the substance in the sense of goods, twice in the parable of the Prodigal Son where the son asked his father to divide to him his inheritance, and then wasted it on riotous living.[18][19]
An apparently related word,
Early Christianity
It must be regarded as certain that the council, which condemned Paul, rejected the term homoousios; but, naturally, only in a false sense, used by Paul; not, it seems, because he meant by it a unity of Hypostasis in the Trinity (so St. Hilary), but because he intended, by it, a common essence, out of which both Father and Son proceeded, or which it divided between them – so St. Basil and St. Athanasius; but the question is not clear. The objectors to the Nicene doctrine in the fourth century made copious use of this disapproval of the Nicene word by a famous council.[22]
In 325, the
The generally agreed-upon meaning of ousia in
See also
- Atzmus
- Consubstantial
- Duns Scotus
- Essence–energies distinction
- Haecceity
- Hypokeimenon
- Metousiosis
- Noumenon
- Quiddity
References
- ^ url=https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/ousia
- ^ a b Athanasopoulos & Schneider 2013.
- ISBN 978-1843715450.
- ^ Conte, G.B.: "Latin Literature: a history" (1987) p. 199
- ^ Owens 1951, pp. 137–154.
- ^ Brown 1996, p. 276.
- ^ Weedman 2007.
- ^ Pásztori-Kupán 2006, pp. 59–60.
- ^ Bracht 2009, p. 111.
- ^ Cohen, S. Marc (2004). "Lecture on Categories".
Primary substances are fundamental in that "if they did not exist it would be impossible for any of the other things to exist." [Categories, 2b5]
- ^ a b Aristotle. "Metaphysics" (PDF).
- ^ a b Cohen, Mark. "Substances" (PDF).
- ^ Heidegger 1996.
- ^ Murphy, Jeffrie "G. Berkeley and the Metaphor of Mental Substance." Ratio 7 (1965):171, note 3.
- ISBN 978-1-84714-470-6.
- JSTOR 25000234.
- ^ "Berkeley Essay Prize Competition". www.sas.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ Thomas Mozley The creed or a philosophy 1893 p. 303 "III 'Ousia' In The New Testament The only appearance of this word in the New Testament is in two successive verses of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It there designates first the 'living' which the Prodigal Son compelled his father..."
- ^ "G3776 – ousia – Strong's Greek Lexicon (kjv)". Blue Letter Bible.
- ^ Kittel, G., Bromiley, G. W., & Friedrich, G. (Eds.). Theological dictionary of the New Testament (electronic ed., Vol. 2, pp. 590–591). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
- ^ Discussion on the B-Greek mailing list. 2005
- ^ John Chapman. "Catholic Encyclopedia: Paul of Samosata". www.newadvent.org.
- ^ Lossky 1976, p. 51.
- ^ Lossky 1976, p. 50.
Bibliography
- Athanasopoulos, Constantinos; Schneider, Christoph, eds. (2013). Divine Essence and Divine Energies: Ecumenical Reflections on the Presence of God. Cambridge, UK: James Clarke & Co. ISBN 978-0227900086.
- Bracht, Katharina (2009). "God and Methodius". God in Early Christian Thought. Leiden; Boston: Brill. pp. 105–122. ISBN 978-9004174122.
- Brentano, Franz (1976) [1862]. On the Several Senses of Being in Aristotle. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Brown, Stephen F. (1996). "Theology and Philosophy". Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide. Washington, D.C.: CUA Press. pp. 267–287. ISBN 978-0813208428.
- Davis, Leo Donald (1983). The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325–787): Their History and Theology. Liturgical Press. ISBN 0814656161.)
- ISBN 978-0791426777.
- ISBN 978-0913836316.
- Loux, Michael J. (2008) [1991]. Primary Ousia: An Essay on Aristotle's Metaphysics Z and H. Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0801474880.
- Motte, André; Somville, Pierre, eds. (2008). Ousia dans la philosophie grecque des origines à Aristote. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters. ISBN 978-9042919839.
- Owens, Joseph (1951). The Doctrine of Being in the Aristotelian Metaphysics: A Study in the Greek Background of Mediaeval Thought. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.
- Pásztori-Kupán, István (2006). Theodoret of Cyrus. London & New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1134391769.
- Weedman, Mark (2007). The Trinitarian Theology of Hilary of Poitiers. Leiden; Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-9004162242.
External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Homoousion
- Schaff's Seven Ecumenical Councils: Excursus on the Word Homousios
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