Full Idea
Scientific essentialists hold that one of the primary aims of science is to define the limits of the possible.
Gist of Idea
A primary aim of science is to show the limits of the possible
Source
Brian Ellis (Scientific Essentialism [2001], 7.06)
Book Reference
Ellis,Brian: 'Scientific Essentialism' [CUP 2007], p.241
A Reaction
I like this. It breaks down into the study of modal profiles, and it can work for abstracta as well as for the physical world. It even covers the study of character, and you could say that it is the subject matter of Jane Austen.