American philosopher who revived the notion of essence as real definition — distinct from modal necessity — developed the theory of grounding, and contributed to neo-logicism.
Essence is not a matter of necessity: what is necessarily true of Socrates (membership in the singleton {Socrates}) need not be essential to him. Real definition: the essence of an object is what makes it the object it is. Grounding: some facts are metaphysically grounded in others — a relation of explanatory dependence more basic than causation.
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