Davidius
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
I started reading Aquinas' De Principiis Naturae in Latin and already in the first chapter I have come across the infinitive verb esse being used as a noun ("being"), which corresponded, I thought, to the Greek ὦν (present participle of εἰμί, infinitive εἶναι). Later, however, he used esse and ens in the same passage. Since ens appears to be a made-up present participle of esse, it correlates more directly to ὦν, but I can't sense any difference between the two Latin words in the text. Does anyone know if there is one? Here is an example:
Are the two meant to be interchangeable?
Et quia generatio est qu[a]edam mutatio de non esse vel ente ad esse vel ens, e converso autem corruptio debet esse de esse ad non esse.
Are the two meant to be interchangeable?