Philosophically it has been said that it is possible for things to exist and not exist at the same time. For something to exist it has to not have existed at some point. This means that for it to exist there must be a sufficient and effective cause that wills that item to exist out of non existence.
In the case of a tree, at some point it did not exist, now it exists and some point on it will come out of existence. This means that it is possible for it to exist and not to exist in the same concept. In such there must be something greater which wills the tree into existence in possibility some higher power. In philosophy this higher being we give the name God.
To understand this, we have to know the very definition of existence. According to Berkeley, existence simply means ‘to be perceived’. That is, in order for something to exist it has to be perceived by the senses as in they have to be aware of them. This means that something can exist unknown to the world but known to the senses creating an indefinite reality. Rather than be a contradiction to the meaning of existence, it forms what is called ‘Copenhagen pre-coherent quantum event’.
In reality this concept is visible in the process of a woman being pregnant and then giving birth. In such a case the child in the womb is existing and at the same time not existing. It exists in the sense that the parents can perceive of it’s existence and yet the world does not know of it’s existence. The unborn child’s reality cannot be perceived by others nor can it be seen but only sensed, in such it lives in an indefinite reality.
Alternatively, for a child to be born, there must be an efficient cause to will it into existence. In such way also the parents also have an efficient cause that is their parents and so on back to the beginning. However, it is not possible to go back to infinity. This means there must be a higher being which does not require a cause in order for it to exist. That being in itself is therefore a sufficient cause. Thus it’s given the name God.
The reality of existence is purely based on how others perceive the things that are and those that are not. The possibility of something to be or not to be is given life by the perceiver giving it reality. In conclusion it is therefore possible for something to exist and not exist at the same time.
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