Full Idea
According to the approach of Plantinga, Forbes and Mackie, the primary job of essences is to individuate the entities whose essences they are across worlds and times at which these entities exist.
Gist of Idea
Modern views want essences just to individuate things across worlds and times
Source
Kathrin Koslicki (Varieties of Ontological Dependence [2012], 7.4 n13)
Book Reference
'Metaphysical Grounding', ed/tr. Correia,F/Schnieder,B [CUP 2012], p.200
A Reaction
A helpful simplification of what is going on. I wish those authors would just say this one their first pages. They all get in a right tangle, because individuation is either too easy, or hopeless. 'Tracking' is a good word for this game.
Related Idea
Idea 17311 Real definitions don't just single out a thing; they must also explain its essence [Koslicki]