Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term
essence
This is a philosophical discussion about democracy. The word essence is on the third line .
La copule « est » n’a ici valeur que de définition : elle porte sur l’emploi des mots, non sur la nature des choses. Elle ne constate pas l’identité du visé et de l’accompli, mais se borne à les proclamer identiques. Il est donc vrai de dire que la démocratie n’a pas d’ ***essence***, mais cette formule reçoit maintenant un sens précis : même si la « démocratie » réalisée entretient un certain rapport avec la « démocratie » projetée, elle n’actualise pas un projet préexistant.
| 4 +8 | essence |
John Holland
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| 3 | sustance/solidity |
Barbara2014
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| 3 | fundamental state of being |
Marie-Pascale Wersinger
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Non-PRO (2): philgoddard, Francis Marche
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Proposed translations
essence
"In philosophy, essence is the attribute or set of attributes that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. Essence is contrasted with accident: a property that the entity or substance has contingently, without which the substance can still retain its identity. The concept originates with Aristotle, who used the Greek expression to ti ên einai (literally "the what it was to be") or sometimes the shorter phrase to ti esti (literally "the what it is") for the same idea. This phrase presented such difficulties for his Latin translators that they coined the word essentia (English "essence") to represent the whole expression. For Aristotle and his scholastic followers, the notion of essence is closely linked to that of definition (horismos)."
Here it means that there is no democracy "as such": democracy has no fundamental attributes outside those found in a specific instance of a particular democracy.
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schevallier
11 mins
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Thank you, schevallier
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Barbara2014
: From Oxford Universal Dictionary: , Essence, Substance, that by which anything subsist, that which constitutes the being of a thing, either as a conceptual or as a real, entity. Couldn't it be used whit the same meaning?
12 mins
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Thank you, Barbara. While different philosophers have different ideas about how "substance," "being," and "essence" relate to one another, I think the author here is concerned with what is essential vs. what is accidental. Also see: http://ur1.ca/hcpzf
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B D Finch
41 mins
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Thank you, B D
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Anca Florescu-Mitchell
2 hrs
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Thank you, Anca
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Helen Shiner
2 hrs
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Thank you, Helen
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Verginia Ophof
3 hrs
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Thank you, Verginia
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philgoddard
4 hrs
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Thank you, philgoddard
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Francis Marche
13 hrs
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Thank you, Francis
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Melissa McMahon
: exactly: "democracy has no essence"
15 hrs
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Thank you, Melissa
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Italy
Language is the dress of thought
Native in: Italian 
Works in: English to Italian, French to Italian, Italian
sustance/solidity
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Note added at 23 min (2014-05-20 08:21:39 GMT)
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SUBSTANCE, not sustance, excusez-moi
Translate more than words: their spirit
Native in: French , English (Variants: British, UK, US)
Works in: English to French, French to English
Discussion