
Contents
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1. Defining the Notion of Essence 1. Defining the Notion of Essence
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2. Epistemic Access to Essence 2. Epistemic Access to Essence
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2.1 A posteriori access to essence 2.1 A posteriori access to essence
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2.1.1 Oderberg’s Essentialism 2.1.1 Oderberg’s Essentialism
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2.1.2 A Priori Elements in a Posteriori Essentialism? 2.1.2 A Priori Elements in a Posteriori Essentialism?
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2.2 A priori access to essence 2.2 A priori access to essence
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2.2.1 Lowe’s Essentialism 2.2.1 Lowe’s Essentialism
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2.2.2 Building on Lowe’s essentialism: the case of sets 2.2.2 Building on Lowe’s essentialism: the case of sets
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2.2.3 Lowe’s essentialism and concrete objects 2.2.3 Lowe’s essentialism and concrete objects
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3. A Hybrid Approach? 3. A Hybrid Approach?
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References References
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6 The Epistemology of Essence
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Published:October 2018
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Abstract
The epistemology of essence is a topic that has received relatively little attention, although there are signs that this is changing. The lack of literature engaging directly with the topic is probably partly due to the mystery surrounding the notion of essence itself, and partly due to the sheer difficulty of developing a plausible epistemology. The need for such an account is clear especially for those, like E. J. Lowe, who are committed to a broadly Aristotelian conception of essence, whereby essence plays an important theoretical role. In this chapter, our epistemic access to essence is examined in terms of the a posteriori vs. a priori distinction. The two main accounts to be contrasted are those of David S. Oderberg and E. J. Lowe.
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