 Is “physical object” a sortal? The general opinion among philosophers is that physical object is not a sortal. One reason for this conclusion is that to say something is a physical object does not give its essence, it doesn’t determine what kind of thing it is—this depends on the essence notion of sortal. A second argument is that it does not provide criteria for counting—the two halves of a physical object are also physical objects—this depends on the counting notion of sortal. A third is that it gives the wrong persistence conditions—the physical object which is a car for a period of time and then becomes a cube of crushed metal is not the same thing. This combines the essence and counting criteria for sortals.