I. Philosophy of Religion

Aseity (Lat. aseitas) means God's existence of and from himself (esse a se). The artificial term was coined by Baroque scholasticism, but the notion behind it has ancient roots in speculative theology.

The first in-depth examination of the question is that of Anselm of Canterbury, who concluded that the supreme entity must be whatever it is through itself and from itself alone (per seipsam et ex seipsa est quidquid est: Monologion VI). The logic o…