An entity is that which exists or can exist.
From the Latin ens , entity is a philosophical concept that refers to what is, exists or can exist . An entity participates in being and has properties that, as an entity, are its own. The concept transcends the material , since an entity can be a table, a television, a lake or the square root of sixteen.
For a better understanding of this word, it is very useful to use some comparisons. Just as a student is the one who studies , a lover is the one who loves and the wealthy is the one who can , the entity is the one who is . The entity has being, although it does not exhaust all its features. It could be said that it is a particular concretion of being , with certain characteristics . The entity is a being in a concrete way.
The existence
In everyday speech, being or existing is understood as being part of the world . Although we tend to believe the statements of astronomers about the presence of bodies at distances from Earth that are impossible for most to calculate, a normal conversation between non-scientists usually mentions beings and objects that they themselves can see and touch.
That said, it is clear that for most people, the existence of a thing is verified through the senses. Philosophy , on the other hand, questions what things really exist, whether being and existing are synonymous, and whether our senses are powerful and reliable enough to determine whether we are facing another being.
Etymology and history of the concept of entity
From the etymology of the word exist, its relationship with the verb appear appears. Delving deeper into its roots, you can see that it is made up of ex and sisto ; The latter is a Latin verb that can be translated as being or remaining, while ex reflects the abandonment of an environment. In short, existing speaks of something that was not in this world , and that in order to manifest itself in it had to leave its original location.
The ancient Greeks already differentiated the changing or sensitive appearance, typical of phenomena, from true existence; The latter was the object of their study for a long time, and they considered it the cause and origin of all things. The pre-Socratic philosophers, those whose thinking was not influenced by that of Socrates, prioritized the definition of existence over the very existence of things.
Sometimes, the idea of entity is used to refer to a spirit or ghost.
More meanings
Another definition of entity refers to that which has entity . An entity is a collectivity that can be considered as a unit. The term can be used as a synonym for entity to name the corporation or company that is taken as a legal entity.
In this way, an entity can be spoken of as an organism or organization. For example: the National Electricity Regulatory Entity (which regulates electrical activity and controls that companies in the sector comply with regulations in Argentina ), the City Entity (which supervises the services of the city of Buenos Aires ), the Rosario Tourism Entity (which promotes tourist activity in the city of Santa Fe).
Entity in colloquial language and in the title of a film
In colloquial language, an entity is an extravagant or ridiculous person : “Your cousin is an entity: I don't understand how he can go out with that hairstyle.”
The term is also part of the name of an American film: " The Entity ." Its premiere took place in 1982 and tells the story of Carla Moran, a young woman who claimed to receive attacks from an invisible being, which tormented her day and night, to the point of putting her life and that of her children at risk. . Carla's terrifying experiences had been captured in a novel of the same name four years before its adaptation to the big screen, authored by Frank DeFelitta.