Full Idea
Kripke and Putnam chose for their typical essence of kinds, sets of properties that could be thought of as explanatorily basic. ..But the modal implications of their views go well beyond this.
Gist of Idea
The Kripke and Putnam view of kinds makes them explanatorily basic, but has modal implications
Source
Penelope Mackie (How Things Might Have Been [2006], 10.1)
Book Reference
Mackie,Penelope: 'How Things Might Have Been' [OUP 2006], p.172
A Reaction
Cf. Idea 11905. The modal implications are that the explanatory essence is also necessary to the identity of the thing under discussion, such as H2O. So do basic explanations carry across into all possible worlds?
Related Idea
Idea 11905 Locke's kind essences are explanatory, without being necessary to the kind [Mackie,P]