Substance
Across various philosophical traditions, different terms are used to express concepts similar to the Western philosophical “substance,” which generally refers to an underlying, independent reality or essence
.
Western Philosophical Traditions
| Tradition/Philosopher | Term(s) | Meaning/Context |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient Greek (Aristotle) | Ousia (οὐσία) | Often translated as “substance” or “essence”; it refers to individual things (primary substance, e.g., “this man”) and also the universal kind/form (secondary substance, e.g., “man”). |
| Ancient Greek (Neoplatonism) | Hypostasis (ὑπόστασις) | Refers to fundamental, distinct spiritual principles or levels of reality, such as the Soul, the Intellect, and the One. |
| Medieval/Scholastic | Substantia, Essentia | Latin terms translating the Greek concepts; substantia implies something “standing under” or supporting properties, while essentia relates to the “what it is to be” of a thing. |
| 17th Century (Descartes) | Res extensa, Res cogitans | Refers to the two distinct, fundamental substances: material/extended substance and thinking substance. |
| 17th Century (Spinoza) | Deus (God) or Natura (Nature) | Spinoza was a monist who identified a single, infinite, self-caused substance as the only fundamental reality, of which everything else is a mode. |
| 17th Century (Locke) | Substratum | Locke used this term to describe the “supposed, but unknown support” that properties are imagined to inhere in, a “something I know not what”. |
| General Ontology | Entity, Being, Object | Modern philosophical terms often used interchangeably with “substance” in its general sense of a real, individual thing, as opposed to a property or mode. |
Eastern Philosophical Traditions
Eastern philosophies often approach the concept of a permanent, underlying reality differently, sometimes denying it altogether.
| Tradition | Term(s) | Meaning/Context |
|---|---|---|
| Hinduism (Upanishadic) | Brahman, Ātman | Brahman is the ultimate, all-inclusive unitary reality or cosmic matter that is the essence of all things. Ātman is the individual self or soul, which is ultimately identified with Brahman (“Tat Tvam Asi” - “That thou art”). |
| Buddhism | Anattā (Pali) / Anātman (Sanskrit) | This central doctrine means “non-self” or “substanceless,” directly opposing the Hindu concept of a permanent self or substance. Phenomena are considered empty (śūnyatā) of intrinsic existence and are constantly changing, interdependent aggregates. |
| Tibetan Buddhism | Universal Substance | A concept representing the essential matter or foundational principle believed to underlie all particular substances and embody their overarching nature. |
AI responses may include mistakes.
[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/substance-philosophy
[2] https://iep.utm.edu/substance/
[4] https://philarchive.org/archive/VINTDC-3
[5] https://www.scribd.com/document/478667163/Eastern-and-Western-Thoughts-hanggang-last-3-docx
[6] https://plato.stanford.edu/Archives/spr2021/entries/substance/
[8] wikipedia/en/Hypostasis_(philosophy_and_religion)
[9] https://fiveable.me/key-terms/intro-philosophy/substance
[11] wikipedia/en/Substance_theory
[12] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/substance/
[13] wikipedia/en/Ousia
[14] wikipedia/en/Substance_theory
[15] wikipedia/en/%C5%9A%C5%ABnyat%C4%81
[16] https://philpapers.org/rec/ARKSAS
[17] https://www.wisdomlib.org/concept/universal-substance
[18] https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialSciences/ppecorino/Roark-Textbook/Chapter-15.htm
[21] https://study.com/academy/lesson/existence-nature-of-the-self-in-eastern-philosophy.html