Abstract

Our definition of essence is very broad; the character of any sort of entity is an essence. Therefore, if we discover that essences themselves are real beings with positive characters, the term 'essence' will be applicable to those characters as truly as it is applicable to the characters of concrete things. We shall, however, classify essences in a hierarchy. First order essences are those which characterize or can characterize actual entities. Second order essences are those which characterize or can characterize first order essences. And in general, essences of order n plus l are essences which characterize or can characterize nth order essences.