Aquinas's real distinction between esse (act of existing) and essentia entails that essence is genuinely conceivable apart from existence, making non-being a coherent contrast class to being.

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Aquinas: Thomas Aquinas was a medieval Italian priest and philosopher (1225-1274) who became one of the most influential thinkers in Western history. He attempted to show that Christian faith and human reason are compatible, arguing that we can use logic and observation to understand God and the natural world. His ideas deeply shaped Catholic theology and continue to influence how religious and secular institutions think about ethics, knowledge, and the relationship between science and belief.
Non-being(as something Parmenides argued is impossible or logically incoherent): That which does not exist or is not real; the complete absence of existence.
contrast class: The set of alternatives against which the topic of a why-question is contrasted
esse(Damian's ontology of good and evil; 610B–C): Genuine or real being, of the kind possessed by good things, as distinguished from the apparent or quasi-being attributed to evil things.
essentia

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