substance

substance in philosophy, term used to denote the changeless substratum presumed in some philosophies to be present in all being. Aristotle defined substance as that which possesses attributes but is itself the attribute of nothing. Less precise usage identifies substance with being and essence. The quest of philosophers for the ultimate identity of reality led some to define substance as one (see monism ). Frequently the monist has identified substance with God, an absolute existing within itself and creating all other forms (Spinoza). According to dualism there are two kinds of substance. Descartes, for example, held that mind and matter constitute the two kinds of finite substance. Others have defined substance as material (Hobbes) or mental (Lotze), as static (Parmenides) or dynamic (Heraclitus), as knowable (Aristotle) or unknowable (Hume). Kant argued that our cognitive faculties require that we conceive of the world as containing substance, i.e., something that remains constant in the face of continuous change.

Bibliography: See D. Wiggens, Sameness and Substance (1980).

sub·stance / ˈsəbstəns/ • n. 1. a particular kind of matter with uniform properties: a steel tube coated with a waxy substance. ∎  an intoxicating, stimulating, or narcotic chemical or drug, esp. an illegal one. 2. the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists and which has a tangible, solid presence: proteins compose much of the actual substance of the body. ∎  the quality of having a solid basis in reality or fact: the claim has no substance. ∎  the quality of being dependable or stable: some were inclined to knock her for her lack of substance. 3. the quality of being important, valid, or significant: he had yet to accomplish anything of substance. ∎  the most important or essential part of something; the real or essential meaning: the substance of the treaty. ∎  the subject matter of a text, speech, or work of art, esp. as contrasted with the form or style in which it is presented. ∎  wealth and possessions: a woman of substance. ∎  Philos. the essential nature underlying phenomena, which is subject to changes and accidents. PHRASES: in substance essentially: basic rights are equivalent in substance to human rights.

substance.
(1). In philosophy the word has played an important part since the time of Aristotle, whose distinctions were taken over by the Schoolmen. In general, substantia was the permanent, underlying reality as contrasted with its changing and perceptible accidents.

(2). In the Christian doctrine of the Godhead, the word is used to express the underlying Being, by which all Three Persons are One.

(3). In the medieval teaching on the Eucharist, the substance of the Eucharistic species was contrasted with their ‘accidents’ (q.v.). See TRANSUBSTANTIATION.