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Ideas for 'Writing the Book of the World', 'Is Mathematics purely Linguistic?' and 'Philosophical Remarks'

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9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 15. Against Essentialism
Essence (even if nonmodal) is not fundamental in metaphysics [Sider]
     Full Idea: We should not regard nonmodal essence as being metaphysically basic: fundamental theories need essence no more than they need modality.
     From: Theodore Sider (Writing the Book of the World [2011], 12.1)
     A reaction: He is discussing Kit Fine, and notes that Fine offers a nonmodal view of essence, but still doesn't make it fundamental. I am a fan of essences, but making them fundamental in metaphysics seems unlikely.