THEORY OF KNOWING.
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PROP. XVII.————
A word upon existing substance and phenomenon.17. So in regard to the phenomenal, not simply in cognition, but in existence. In the older systems, the usual synonym for this was the Becoming (τὸ γιγνόμενον); that is, inchoate existence (just as the sensible, αἰσθητόν, stood for inchoate cognition): in other words, existence which is not existence until supplemented by something else. And thus, in the intention, at least, of the older systems, the definition of the existing phenomenal was this: The existing phenomenal, or phenomenal existence, is whatever can exist only along with something else. In like manner, the substantial, considered not simply in cognition, but in existence, had for its synonym true Being (τὸ ὄντως ὄν), and was held to be equivalent to completed existence (just as the intelligible, νοητόν, εἶδος, or ἰδέα, stood for completed cognition); so that the definition of the existing substantial would be this: The existing substantial, or substantial existence, is whatever can exist without anything else existing along with it. There was thus an exact harmony or parallelism between the old conceptions of known substance and existing substance, and between the old conceptions of known phenomenon and existing phenomenon. With these conceptions or definitions, in so far as they refer to existence, we have, at present, no concern. That point has been touched upon, because even this incidental mention of it may help
