What is the distinction between Nature and Essence?

[Shiranui117]

Exactly what it says on the tin. I know that Nature and Essence are sometimes used interchangeably, but what are the ways that "nature" and "essence" differ, and how exactly do they differ?

For example, is it the case that there is a general human "nature," but there is also a particular "essence" of a specific person, i.e. Peter and Paul share the same human "nature," but each has a different "essence"?

[orthonorm]

I can't wait for this thread . . .

Paging 2500 years of Western Thought!

Lest I cause some to explode by this suggestion, I would just start with an overview of sorts. Start with essence and click around wikipedia for a while. (Yes, I did wikipedia.)

It should give you a decent overview the problems and history of this question.

Otherwise, I fear you will not get much more than tired and inaccurate analogies or a very heavy and poorly chosen reading list.

Then whatever particular questions you find most interesting after clicking through the history of thought, you can examine them in greater detail.

EDIT: Skip wikipedia's weird bias when including Buddhist and other non-Western notions of "essence" and other such topics. It will just save you time and what you read is just filtered through the lens of Western metaphysics anyhow.

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