The Discovery and Meaning of Being

Since metaphysics is the study of being as such, our first task is to unpack the meaning of this basic term “being,” the most fundamental attribute of all real things, in terms of which metaphysics discovers its subject matter and defines its distinctive point of view. In its primary existential meaning, “being” is a noun derived from the verb “to be.” Thus, a being = that which is, or exists, is real, as in the existential propositions: “This is”; “That is”; “There is a snake in the cellar”; or “This wine is good.” St. Thomas distinguishes another secondary non-existential meaning