What is Essence?
As essence we call that which constitutes the nature of a thing, those characteristics or properties that are permanent and invariable. The word, as such, comes from the Latin essentĭa.
Also known as essence is what is important, characteristic or fundamental in a thing. For example: “The essence of science is curiosity”, “the essence of goodness is love of neighbor”.
The concentrated liquid extract of a substance, generally aromatic, is also called essence . The essences are used in cooking, as, for example, the vanilla essence.
Likewise, essences can also be perfumes or aromatic substances. Thus we find the essence of orange, mint, eucalyptus, lavender.
Synonyms of essence are nature, property; scent, fragrance, scent; extract, concentrate, among others.
In English, on the other hand, we can translate essence as essence . For example: “ Water is the essence of life ”.
Essence in philosophy
The concept of essence is fundamental to philosophical thought. The essence is what constitutes the nature of things, which is invariable and permanent as opposed to accidental, that is, the set of variable or mutable characteristics of things.
Plato, for example, considered the essence to be the eternal, immutable idea or form of material things, sensitive to perception. For Aristotle, on the other hand, the essence is what establishes the definition of things, their description in itself, what the thing is with respect to itself.
Essence in chemistry
For chemistry, an essence is a highly odorous, volatile liquid, poorly soluble in water, which is obtained from some vegetables. As such, it is mainly made up of hydrocarbons and derivatives.
