by Gary C. Gibson

Created on: December 16, 2009

Ex-ist+ence is a language construction.

Ist means to be in the Germanic languages inclusive of English with its word 'is'. These word roots rock around the deck a little in their rolls as general references in this case to the most basic application of being. I have thought that to ex-ist is an extraction or step removed from personal reflection of the basic state of is-ness.

Words have meanings about other words. Things-in-themselves that are inanimate objects do not have words or meanings in them. Even if we want to wiggle out of that stricture, and talk about the existence of talking gift cards or radios we are referencing ossified sentient constructions in some way and sentient, semiotic meaning. Only if we accept a theological construction of cosmological origin such that 'In the beginning was the Word' and then postulate that at the core of things the creation is built up from spiritual quanta rather than material can we maybe have a chance of finding meaning in things in themselves-and that would not be what a Shinto Kami squawks through the beak of a Raven but the overall teleology of God.

 We don't want to get too tangled up in our own philosophical language. Modern analytic philosophy has concerned itself since Bertrand Russell at least with clarifying real philosophical issues from simple language games, language meaning loops and so forth. It is possible t simple define word A by refering to words B and C, and then defining words B and C with words D and F and those by referring to words A and B and so on within a lexicon or word ontology.

 The philosopher Martin Heidegger in his book Being and Time tried to get to the root meanings of words historically within his German language, and as a professor of phenomenalism he could perhaps rectify the root word or ancient original reference with the phenomenal philosophical use. There are many and varied, subtle complex applications of the use of words within philosophical contexts and categories. The matter about ex-ist ence should be fairly simple though. 

 We can differentiate two basic approaches to defining what existence means-much less finding a 'reason' for it. The issue of a reason for the existence of everything would require that we know the mind or purpose of God, and that isn't possible except as God provides revealed knowledge. It is true that we may also invoke physical, scientific or causal explanations as reasons for the existence of the Universe as we know it, yet

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