 As for the method of conceptual competence, Kment remarks that competence with a term often requires (at least implicit) knowledge of part or all of the real definition of the thing picked out by the term. For Kment, real definitions are a type of essentialist truths. To have competence in using the notions of metaphysical necessity and possibility, one must know, at least tacitly, that metaphysical modality is connected to metaphysical laws, including laws that govern what is essential. (For a similar view, see Peacocke 1999,  §4.3  above. The role of linguistic competence in the acquisition of essentialist knowledge has also been stressed by Hale 2013, 2021).