 but if Ø were to obtain, (1*) would also be false, because essences presuppose existent carriers. He rejects the claim that “existence is accidental to an essence” (essentiae accidit esse); prior to the generation of a human being its essence was nothing, he says, and after the individual’s destruction it again is nothing. In short: if no human exists, there is no human essence and no composition in reality of man and animal as required for (1*) to be true. He further holds that in a world void of men