Against the epistemology of essence

As a preface to the paper proper, let me share a brief anecdote, told to me some years ago. The details aren’t entirely veridical (notably, names have been changed to protect the innocent), but the gist of the story remains. R and F, two metaphysicians at a major R1 university on the US eastern seaboard, were sitting around a table, debating whether there really was a table or just some simples arranged table-wise. During a lull in the argumentative to and fro, R let out a deep sigh and said,...