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Being
In philosophy, being means the existence of a thing. Anything that exists has being. Ontology is the branch of philosophy that studies being. Being is a concept encompassing objective and subjective features of reality and existence. Anything that partakes in being is also called a “being”, though often this usage is limited to entities that have subjectivity (as in the expression “human being”). The notion of “being” has, inevitably, been elusive and controversial in the history of philosophy, beginning in Western philosophy with attempts among the pre-Socratics to deploy it intelligibly. The first effort to recognize and define the concept came from Parmenides, who famously said of it that “what is-is”. Common words such as “is”, “are”, and “am” refer directly or indirectly to being.
As an example of efforts in recent times, Martin Heidegger (who himself drew on ancient Greek sources) adopted after German terms like Dasein to articulate the topic. Several modern approaches build on such continental European exemplars as Heidegger, and apply metaphysical results to the understanding of human psychology and the human condition generally (notably in the Existentialist tradition). By contrast, in mainstream Analytical philosophy the topic is more confined to abstract investigation, in the work of such influential theorists as W. V. O. Quine, to name one of many. One of the most fundamental questions that continues to exercise philosophers is posed by William James: “How comes the world to be here at all instead of the nonentity which might be imagined in its place? … from nothing to being there is no logical bridge.”
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Being (verb)
present participle of be
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Being (noun)
A living creature.
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Being (noun)
The state or fact of existence, consciousness, or life, or something in such a state.
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Being (noun)
That which has actuality (materially or in concept).
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Being (noun)
One’s basic nature, or the qualities thereof; essence or personality.
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Being (noun)
An abode; a cottage.
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Being (conjunction)
Given that; since.
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Being (noun)
existence
“the railway brought many towns into being”
“the single market came into being in 1993”
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Being (noun)
being alive; living
“holism promotes a unified way of being”
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Being (noun)
the nature or essence of a person
“sometimes one aspect of our being has been developed at the expense of the others”
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Being (noun)
a real or imaginary living creature or entity, especially an intelligent one
“a rational being”
“alien beings”