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But these similarities don’t explain the differences between individuals that belong to any particular group. To account for these differences, Aristotle argues that each individual person has different kinds of characteristics, some essential (necessary), and some accidental (contingent). This is the key to understanding Aristotle’s view on what makes Annabelle (I only call her that because she’s shaped . . . she’s the belle of the ball!) who she is and not somebody else. Essential properties are those that Ann cannot get rid of and still be Ann. Ann, it seems, could change her hair color, or could have had different colored eyes and it wouldn’t mean that she’s literally a different person. Buster lost a hand to a seal, but he didn’t cease being Buster, even if he did become “a monster” (or “half-machine”). As we saw, Ann can even ditch her religious beliefs and take up a relationship with Gob, and still be Ann. These are all accidental properties. If Ann ceased to “have a low center of gravity, [so that] you can’t knock her down” or ceased being bland, then, it might seem that we’re not talking about the same person anymore.

Similar things can be said about Marta. She seems to be essentially beautiful, charming, an accomplished actress, and, well, Hispanic.2 These are the traits common across the two actresses who portray her. Her height, her hairstyle, and so on, aren’t things that the two Marta’s have in common, but that doesn’t really seem to matter much. These aren’t essential to who Marta is. The essential traits we’re considering are all fairly shallow, though. We don’t know much about Marta, and as central a character as Ann is, we don’t know all that much about her, either.

Many of these essential traits have to do with the way Ann and Marta appear. But what if, as is the case with George and Oscar, the people we’re wondering about look as if they are (and actually are) qualitatively identical? This is exactly the case with Andy Richter and his four identical siblings, who appear in “S.O.B.s.” The only way to distinguish between these five characters (Andy, Rocky, Donny, Chareth, and Emmitt) is by appealing to what the infinitely wise Narrator offers as the defining characteristic of each of them, “there’s Andy, the show-off; Chareth, the flirt; Rocky, the stuntman; Donny, the sensitive one; and Emmitt, but we’re not allowed to show his face . . .” This way of explaining the essence of each person may at first glance appear to be a promising answer to the metaphysical question, and maybe even the evidential question. After all, if an Andy Richter look-alike charges into your house and pretends to slam you against a wall and hold you there, you can probably assume that it’s Rocky (as long as he leaves you in total control of the situation). Yet, this might not be as promising for the evidential approach as it first appears. Andy himself shows up at the “Save Our Bluths” banquet pretending to be Emmitt, and, though suspicious, nobody can prove it is really Andy. So, maybe this speaks against essences as a solution to the evidential problem.

The case of George and Oscar isn’t so different from that of the Richters. George and Oscar have very different essential properties. Oscar isn’t particularly ambitious, while George is overly ambitious. Oscar isn’t worried about money, while that’s all George seems to value. These essential differences aren’t enough to convince the cops, but they are enough for Michael. When Oscar states, “I understand, your child comes first,” this cues Michael in to Oscar’s identity (“The Cabin Show”).

Despite the seeming promise of the essentialist approach to the metaphysical question, our discussion of the essence of a person is still pretty mysterious. What is this essence that we keep talking about? So far we’ve enumerated a few different things that might be examples of an essence, or of an essential property, but we’re still a far cry from knowing just what the essence is. So let’s consider how Aristotle’s view could be revised to make it more informative.

Oh My God