Essence and Phenomenon

A pair of categories that reveals the inner connection and outward appearance of things and their relation. Things have the two aspects of essence and phenomena, are the unity of essence and phenomenon. Essence is the fundamental nature of things, the inner connection between the elements that constitute things. The essence of things is determined by their internal contradictions. There are different levels of essence, such as primary essence, secondary essence, etc. Man’s knowledge of things always moves from the individual to the particular and then to the general. In contrast to the individual, the particular is the essence hidden behind individual phenomena, and by moving from the individual to the particular, knowledge moves from the phenomena to the essence; by rising further from the particular to the general, knowledge moves from the primary essence of things to the secondary essence. Phenomenon is the external connection and apparent features of things, and is their outward appearance of the essence. A phenomenon can be distinguished into truth and semblance. At first glance, semblance is inconsistent with, or even contrary to, the essence, but in fact, truth and semblance are both forms of appearance of the essence. The truth expresses the essence in an immediate form, and the semblance expresses the essence in a particular form, which is caused by the various conditions that actually exist.

Essence and phenomenon are distinct from another. Firstly, a phenomenon is something individual and concrete, a concrete manifestation of the essence of a thing, while an essence is something general and common among the same kind of phenomena. Next, phenomena are changeable and perishable, while the essence is relatively stable. The essence of a thing remains relatively stable until the fundamental contradiction of that thing is resolved, but while the essence of a thing remains unchanged, the phenomena that manifest themselves change frequently, flowing back and forth, constantly changing form. Finally, phenomena are superficial and exposed, and can be directly perceived by human senses, while the essence is deeply hidden within things and can only be grasped by rational thinking. Essence and phenomena are again interdependent. Essence is the ground of phenomena. Essence determines phenomena. Essence always manifests its existence through certain phenomena; various phenomena manifest the essence of things from specific aspects. The existence and change of phenomena depend, in the last instance, on essence. Essence is the ground of phenomena, it determines phenomena, and it always expresses its existence through certain phenomena; various phenomena express the essence of things from specific aspects, and the existence and changes of phenomena depend on essence at the end. In objective things, an essence that is not manifested as a phenomenon, or a phenomenon that does not manifest an essence, does not exist. The unity of phenomena and essence determines that men can know the essence of things through phenomena.

It is of great methodological significance to correctly grasp the relation between essence and phenomena. “All science would be superfluous if the outward appearance and the essence of things directly coincided.” The task of science is then to distinguish truth from semblance and to grasp essence through phenomena. To do this, it is necessary, at first, to observe the phenomena of things as comprehensively as possible; and, next, to carry out an in-depth analysis, move from first-order essence to second-order essence and constantly deepen the knowledge of things.