We explain what an entity is, the origin of the term and its meaning in philosophy, administration and law. Also, various examples.
What is an entity?
In philosophy, it is common to use the term entity to refer to something that exists, that is, something that is. You can call “entity” any object whose existence is verifiableas well as “being”, both very broad and uncertain terms in Western philosophy, linked to the great transcendental questions of humanity, such as: what is it to exist? What does it mean to be?
The word entity is a loan from Latin ensparticiple of the verb essere (“ser”) and which also appears as entitasthat is, “quality of being”, that which is, that exists. Many thinkers used it to contrast it with the concept of essence, such as Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), for whom the entity and its essence were two separate things.
However, the term entity is also used in common and everyday language, and even in areas linked to administration and Law, to refer to legal persons, that is, corporations, companies, institutions or collectivities that operate as an administrative unit, answering to the law as an individual.
In this sense, for example, it is common to talk about:
- Financial entities, banking entities either savings and loan entitiesto refer to banks, brokerage firms, and other similar organizations that are dedicated to money management and investments.
- Administrative entities, federal entities either territorial entitiesto refer to the provinces, districts or states into which a country or a city can be divided, and which have specific geographical and administrative borders.
- Cultural entities, social entities either public interest entitiesto refer to non-profit organizations, NGOs and other similar groups that pursue charitable, educational or similar purposes.
Finally, it is also possible to refer as an “entity” to some creature or form of existence about which we do not know much or that is a challenge to established knowledge.
For example, ghosts, frights, demons and the like are referred to as supernatural entities, since they are not properly forms of life (but they exist, at least in the context of fictions). It is also possible to speak of an alien entity to refer to an extraterrestrial being.
Continue with: Ontology
References
- “Entity” in Wikipedia.
- “Entity” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Etymology of Entity” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
- “Entity. “Ens.” in A Dictionary of English Philosophical Terms in Torre de Babel Ediciones.
