Information AboutEssentialism |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ESSENTIALISM | |
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An ''essence'' characterizes a Substance or a Form (as in Plato 's idealism). It is permanent, unalterable, and eternal; and present in every possible world. Classical Humanism has an essentialist conception of the human being, which means that it believes in an eternal and unchangeable Human Nature . This viewpoint has been criticized by Marx and Nietzsche . ESSENTIALISM IN PHILOSOPHY The definition, in philosophical contexts, of the word "essence" is very close to the definition of Form (Gr. eidos). Many definitions of Essence harken back to the ancient Greek Hylomorphic understanding of the formation of the things of this world. According to that account, the structure and real existence of any thing can be understood by analogy to an artifact produced by a craftsman. The craftsman requires ''hyle'' (timber or wood) and a model or plan or idea in his own mind according to which the wood is worked to give it the indicated contour or form (''morphe''). In Plato's philosophy, things were said to come into being in this world by the action of a Demiurge (Gr. demiourgos) who works to form Chaos into ordered entities. (See Plato, ''Timaeus''.) Aristotle was the first to use the terms ''hyle'' and ''morphe''. According to his explanation, all entities have two aspects, "matter" and "form." It is the particular form imposed that gives some matter its identity, its Quiddity or "whatness" (i.e., its "what it is"). Plato was an essentialist since he believed in ideal forms of which every object is just a poor copy. This belief is clearly manifested in his famous Parable Of The Cave . Karl Popper splits the ambiguous term Realism into essentialism and Realism . He uses essentialism whenever he means the opposite of Nominalism , and Realism only as opposed to Idealism . Aristasia ns term their philosophy ''feminine essentialism''. It is akin to the philosophies of Plato and the Traditionalist School but takes a feminist perspective which it holds to be the original human (matriarchal) form. ESSENTIALISM IN ETHICS Essentialism in ethics means the view that some things are wrong in a real or absolute sense, meaning that for example murder breaks a universal, objective or natural moral law and not merely an adventitious, socially or ethnically constructed one. ESSENTIALISM IN BIOLOGY Before Evolution was developed as a viable Scientific Theory , there existed an essentialist view of Biology that posited all Species to be unchanging throughout time. These ideas were accepted Dogmatically by the Scholastic Theologians of the Middle Ages as derivatives of Aristotelian Ideals . Some religious opponents of Evolution continue to maintain this view of biology (see Creation-evolution Controversy ). ESSENTIALISM AND SOCIETY Essentialist positions on gender, race, and characteristics, consider these to be fixed traits while not allowing for variation in the group or individual. Contemporary proponents of Identity Politics including Feminism , Gay Rights , and anti-racist activists generally take Constructionist viewpoints. For issues of human social roles, for example, this is reflected in a distinction between biological Sex and Gender Role . Similar distinctions across disciplines generally fall under the topic " Nature Versus Nurture ." PSYCHOLOGICAL ESSENTIALISM In Cognitive Psychology , essentialism refers to people's everyday tendency to assume, often unconsciously, that objects in nature have hidden essential properties that determine what kind of objects they are (e.g. all dogs have a 'dog essence'). Some experts claim that essentialism emerges very early in human development and is a cross-cultural universal, while others contend that it is a late-developing consequence of belonging to a culture in which essentialist reasoning is encouraged. Psychological essentialism is a theory about people's beliefs and is neutral with respect to the factual accuracy of these beliefs. SEE ALSO Contrast with: Constructionism , Poststructuralism , Existentialism FURTHER READING For more information on Essentialism and related topics, see the ''Dictionary of Philosophy'' by Dagobert D. Runes (Littlefield, Adams & Co., 1972). See the articles on essence, page 97, quiddity, p. 262, form,110, hylomorphism, 133, individuation,145, and matter, 191. |
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