The Problem of Relation Between Essence (Essentia) and Existence (Existentia) in Heidegers’s Interpretation of F. Suarez

Abstract

The article is devoted to studying the problem of the relationship between essence and existence – one of the most important problems of medieval philo­sophy and at the same time one of the basic problem lines of M. Heidegger’s “fundamental ontology”. The author aims to reveal why it was so important for Heidegger to note the scholastic difference of essence and existence; why he ap­peals to and how he works with the texts of medieval thinkers what he pays spe­cial attention to and what conclusions comes to. Heidegger’s work focuses on F. Suarez’s treatise “Disputationes metaphysicae”. In his lecture course “Die Grundprobleme der Phänomenologie” Heidegger circumstantially and in detail analyses the thesis of medieval ontology about the relationship between essence and existence, paying particular attention to Suarez XXXI “Disputationes meta­physicae”. These works have served as the main source for this article. Analysing Heidegger’s reading of the Suarez’ text and its use in Heidegger’s on­tological constructions, the author comes to conclusion that Suarez’s and his forerunners’ reasoning could provide Heidegger with support in developing phe­nomenological ontology. The article shows that a comparison of F. Suares’ XXXI “Disputationes metaphysicae” with Heidegger’s Marburg lectures can help resolve the issue of to what extent new interpretations of medieval ap­proaches to the relationship between essence and existence have opened up the horizons for Heidegger’s radical ontological research.