The Inference to a Real Distinction Is Invalid

In general, for the Thomist, when the mind grasps the essence of a thing, it grasps it as something distinct from its existence or lack thereof. There isn't any event ample reason to doubt that the notion of specific existence captures everything that needs to be captured by an analysis of existence. One of the arguments considered earlier for the real distinction between the thing's essence and its existence rested on the premise that we can know of things' essence without knowing whether they exist.