On explaining necessity by the essence of essence

Abstract

There has been much debate recently on the question whether essence can explain modality. Here, I examine two routes to an essentialist account of modality. The first is Hale's argument for the necessity of essence, which I will argue isnotwithstanding recent attempted defences of itinvalid by its very structure. The second is the proposal that it is essential to essential truth that it is necessary. After offering three possible versions of the view, I will argue that each fails to provide a metaphysical explanation of necessity in terms of essence.