aseity
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Medieval Latin aseitas (“state of being by itself”), from Classical Latin a se + -itas.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
aseity (countable and uncountable, plural aseities)
- (metaphysics, theology) Usually ascribed to deity: the attribute of being entirely self-derived, in contrast to being derived from or dependent on another; the quality of having within oneself the entire reason for one's being; utter independent self-existence and self-sustenance.
- Antonyms: contingency, createdness, dependence, derivedness
- 1902, William James, “Lecture XVIII: Philosophy”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 439:
- He is Spiritual, for were He composed of physical parts, some other power would have to combine them into the total, and his aseity would thus be contradicted.
Translations[edit]
divine attribute of self-existence