What do we mean when we say something exist?

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Philosophers are known for asking mind troubling questions. In most cases, we create argument for the purpose or learning or to awaken human consciousness to things around them.

Dogmatism is one thing that philosophy tries to do away from. In fact, it is the opposite of philosophy. To be dogmatic is to be non-philosopher.

As a philosopher in the embryo, i was faced with the question of existence which was later asked in relation to God.

The general view is that God exist. This is simple and straight. The believers of this view have scriptural backings to prove it

Sometimes, some have experiences or encounter with the Supreme which gives them strong believe that He exists.

For Philosophers, it is not that simple. The question of 'how' come in which further extend to epistemology (study of knowledge).

Philosophers go further to ask 'how' do you know that God exist? For them, it is not enough to say He does on the premise that He created man as anything could have created man or be responsible for his creation.

For the Philosophers, it is beyond the supernatural question because they want to know how you know that a God exist.

In some cases, they ask for proof. This is, for me overboard. This is because proof or disprove cannot really deny the existence or anything. But it somehow shows the limitation in human knowledge.

Let me explain this limitation.

We can ask the difference, if there is any, between a yellow pawpaw and a yellow existing pawpaw?

For anything to be yellow, it must already exist. This is because only existing things instantiate properties.

For instance, we saw yellow pawpaw, yellowness is not a property of pawpaw. By property, i mean it is not peculiar to pawpaw. It is not only pawpaw that is yellow in the world.

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So the yellow is itself exist and instantiate the property called pawpaw.

Similarly, when i say a black chair, black is a colour that exist since we see it in/on things. But the chair itself is a property. The colour is not the chair but a color the chair assumes.

Now we can all agree that a chair, colour yellow and colour black exit because we've seen them.

In the same vein, can we tell a blind man that colour yellow and colour black exist? Absurd right? A blind man (from birth) who haven't seen one before and doesn't know what it looks like, would simply say it doesn't exit.

Similarly, people say God doesn't exist because they are blind to that reality or haven't experienced it.

Assuming i tell you that a 'green kukum' exist. You will probably say no that it doesn't. Your argument would be that you haven't seen or heard of it before.

In this case, let's assume that 'kukum' is a fruit and exist in a very minute community in North Africa. In this scenario, it doesn't exist for you but for those who eat it daily, it exist.

This shows you are limited by your knowledge of existence as against what truly exist that you have no idea about.

Existence is both physical and intellectual. Physical because it is in front of you, you can see. Also because you have seen it in the past or heard from others that they have seen it.

Intellectual because you reason and intuit about it. For instance, i know there are people in America, i know there are people outside, i know there are trees in the forest. These are not something i can see but they are thing i know exist and are independent of my perception.

Similarly, God's existence is mostly intellectual but physically felt via signs and wonders.

Thanks for your time.