“Essence and Modality”
E949476
“Essence and Modality” is a seminal philosophical work by Kit Fine that develops an influential account of metaphysical essence and its relationship to modal notions like necessity and possibility.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| “Essence and Modality” canonical | 1 |
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
book chapter
ⓘ
philosophical work ⓘ |
| addresses |
distinction between de re and de dicto modality
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how essence underwrites metaphysical necessity ⓘ limits of possible‑worlds semantics for capturing essence ⓘ logical representation of essentialist claims ⓘ relationship between essential properties and necessary properties ⓘ |
| author | Kit Fine NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| contribution |
argues that metaphysical explanation is grounded in essence
ⓘ
develops a formal framework for essentialist reasoning ⓘ distinguishes between essence and necessity ⓘ influenced contemporary debates on metaphysical grounding ⓘ revived interest in Aristotelian notions of essence ⓘ |
| field |
metaphysics
ⓘ
modal metaphysics ⓘ philosophy of logic ⓘ |
| hasPart |
arguments for the priority of essence over modality
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critique of purely modal accounts of essence ⓘ discussion of real versus definitional essence ⓘ formal system for essentialist operators ⓘ |
| influenced |
contemporary essentialist metaphysics
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debates about the nature of metaphysical necessity ⓘ modal metaphysics ⓘ theories of metaphysical grounding ⓘ work on hyperintensionality ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mainClaim |
essence is prior to modality
ⓘ
essentialist statements concern what it is to be a thing rather than how it is across possible worlds ⓘ essentialist truths are not reducible to purely modal truths ⓘ modal notions of necessity and possibility are to be explained in terms of essence ⓘ there are different kinds of essence, including real and definitional essence ⓘ |
| mainTopic |
essentialism
ⓘ
metaphysical essence ⓘ metaphysics ⓘ modal logic ⓘ modality ⓘ necessity ⓘ philosophy of logic ⓘ possibility ⓘ |
| notableFor |
impact on discussions of grounding and explanation
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influential defense of essentialism in contemporary analytic philosophy ⓘ systematic treatment of essence as a primitive notion ⓘ |
| philosophicalTradition | analytic philosophy ⓘ |
| relatedWork |
“Ontological Dependence”
NERFINISHED
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“The Logic of Essence” NERFINISHED ⓘ “Things and Their Parts” NERFINISHED ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.