 The Language to Essence Question: Some essentialist accounts hold that knowledge of meaning or conceptual competence importantly contributes to knowledge of essence (e.g., Hale’s and Kment’s). This raises a more specific transition question concerning how we get to knowledge of essence via linguistic or conceptual competence. It might be argued that we acquire knowledge of essence by reflecting on our conceptual-linguistic practices. However, how could our conceptual or linguistic practices tell us what are the essential natures of mind-independent things? Most theorists appeal to implicit knowledge of essence. But what does this mean, exactly? Particularly, how do we find out what we know implicitly?