Necessität

Necessität is a German term that translates to necessity or indispensability in English. It describes a state or quality of being required or absolutely needed. In philosophy, particularly in discussions of metaphysics and logic, necessität often refers to a kind of truth or existence that cannot be otherwise. This contrasts with contingency, where something might exist or be true, but it could also have been otherwise. A necessarily true statement, for example, is one that is true in all possible worlds.

The concept of necessität has been explored by various thinkers. Immanuel Kant, for instance, distinguished between different kinds of necessity in his critiques. He differentiated between a priori necessity, which is independent of experience, and a posteriori necessity, which is derived from experience but still considered indispensable for certain conclusions. In more everyday usage, necessität can simply refer to a pressing need or a requirement for survival or functioning. For example, food and water are necessitäten for human life. The degree and nature of what constitutes necessität can vary depending on the context, be it ethical, logical, or practical. Understanding necessität helps to clarify distinctions between what is merely possible and what is fundamentally required or unavoidable.