For example, we talk about bachelors and we talk about unmarried men, but there is nothing in the things we are talking about themselves that corresponds to this distinction. Now, some distinctions we draw are merely distinctions between ways in which we might think or talk about things, but don't reflect any difference in reality. So, we can distinguish between a thing's essence and its existence, between what it is and the fact that it is. That is to say, you know that human beings exist. Substitute some other definition if you prefer.) Second, you know that there really are human beings. (Though once again, it doesn't matter for present purposes whether you agree with this traditional definition of a human being or not. That is the nature or essence of a human being. You know, for instance, that what a human being is is a rational animal. Notice that what we thereby know about them are two distinct things. We know what these things are, and we know that they are part of reality outside our minds. The world of our experience contains stones, trees, dogs, human beings, and a wide variety of other things. Selection from Edward Feser, Five Proofs of the Existence of God, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017), 117-118.
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