Existent

Existent is a term used to describe something that has existence. As an adjective, it refers to entities that are present in reality or in a given possible world. As a noun, it can denote an existing object or entity within philosophical discourse.

In ontology, scholars analyze what it means for something to be existent. A central issue is whether existence is a property of objects or a basic presupposition of thought and language. Historically, philosophers have debated whether existence is a genuine predicate or merely a way of asserting that a concept applies. For example, some interpretations claim existence adds a real attribute to things, while others treat existence as a logical presupposition or a marker of reference that does not alter the object's essence. In modern discussions, existence is often approached through modal and possible-world analyses, grounding talk about what exists across different ways the world could be.

In logic and linguistics, existence is commonly expressed with existential quantification, denoting that there is at least one object that satisfies a given condition. In ordinary language, statements about the existent are used to report or hypothesize about what is present in the domain of discourse, whether in the actual world, in a possible world, or in fictional narratives.

The category of existent can include actual existents—things that exist in the actual world—and possible or potential existents—things that could exist in some possible world. Some philosophical frameworks further distinguish necessary existents from contingent or fictional ones, shaping debates about truth, reference, and ontology.

Existent is often contrasted with nonexistence and is central to discussions in ontology, metaphysics, and semantics about how entities are said to be.