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Full Idea
In ordinary contexts, we distinguish objects not by their essences but by their attributes.
Gist of Idea
We distinguish objects by their attributes, not by their essences
Source
Scott Shalkowski (Essence and Being [2008], 'Ess and Know')
Book Ref
'Being: Developments in Contemporary Metaphysics', ed/tr. Le Poidevin,R [CUP 2008], p.60
A Reaction
Hence we have a gap between what bestows identity intrinsically, and how we bestow identity conventionally. If you could grasp the essence of something, you might predict a new attribute, as yet unobserved.