beingness

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English

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Etymology

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Calque of German Seiendheit, equivalent to English being +‎ -ness. Occasionally also used to translate German Sein (being).

Noun

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beingness (usually uncountable, plural beingnesses)

  1. Existence; the condition of a thing that is.
    • 1865, James Hutchison Stirling, The Secret of Hegel[1], page 263:
      Thus, from every example, we may see that Quantity always concerns a Beingness, which is indifferent to the very determinateness which it now, or at any time, has.
    • 1988, Leo Strauss, What is Political Philosophy?[2], →ISBN, page 253:
      In the good painting the stone is no longer a stone, i.e., something which we could not possibly be: in the good painting the stone has become visible in its beingness; only in the work of art is the stone truly.
    • 2004, Richard H. Jones, Mysticism and Morality: A New Look at Old Questions[3], →ISBN, page 391:
      The two approaches remain distinct ways of knowing: mystics are interested in the changeless beingness outside of time, while scientists are only interested in understanding the causes of the changes within the world of time.

Usage notes

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This word is often found in Scientology texts.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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