Editing Essentialism (section)

{{Short description|View that entities have identifying attributes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}

'''Essentialism''' is the view that objects have a set of attributes that are necessary to their [[Identity (philosophy)|identity]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cartwright|first=Richard L.|title=Some Remarks on Essentialism|journal=The Journal of Philosophy|year=1968|volume=65|issue=20|pages=615–626|jstor=2024315|doi=10.2307/2024315}}</ref> In early Western thought, [[Platonic idealism]] held that all things have such an "[[essence]]"—an [[Theory of forms|"idea" or "form"]]. In ''[[Categories (Aristotle)|Categories]]'', [[Aristotle]] similarly proposed that all objects have a [[Substance theory|substance]] that, as [[George Lakoff]] put it, "make the thing what it is, and without which it would be not ''that'' kind of thing".<ref>{{harvp|Janicki|2003|p=274}}</ref> The contrary view—[[non-essentialism]]—denies the need to posit such an "essence". Essentialism has been controversial from its beginning. In the ''[[Parmenides (dialogue)|Parmenides]]'' dialogue, [[Plato]] depicts [[Socrates]] questioning the notion, suggesting that if we accept the idea that every beautiful thing or just action partakes of an essence to be beautiful or just, we must also accept the "existence of separate essences for hair, mud, and dirt".<ref name="platostanford">{{cite web |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-parmenides/|title=Plato's Parmenides|website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|publisher=[[Stanford University]]|date=30 July 2015}}</ref>

Older [[social theories]] were often conceptually essentialist.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kurzwelly |first=J. |author2=Rapport, N. |author3=Spiegel, A. D. |year=2020 |title=Encountering, explaining and refuting essentialism |journal=Anthropology Southern Africa |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=65–81 |doi=10.1080/23323256.2020.1780141 |s2cid=221063562 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10023/24669}}</ref> In [[biology]] and other [[natural science]]s, essentialism provided the rationale for [[Taxonomy (general)|taxonomy]] at least until the time of [[Charles Darwin]].<ref>{{harvp|Ereshefsky|2007|p=8}}</ref> The role and importance of essentialism in modern biology is still a matter of debate.<ref>{{harvp|Hull|2007}}</ref> Beliefs which posit that social identities such as [[Race (human categorization)|race]], [[ethnicity]], [[nationality]], or [[gender]] are essential characteristics have been central to many [[discriminatory]] or [[extremist]] ideologies.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kurzwelly|first=J.|author2=Fernana, H.|author3=Ngum, M. E.|year=2020|title=The allure of essentialism and extremist ideologies|journal=[[Anthropology Southern Africa]]|volume=43|issue=2|pages=107–118|doi=10.1080/23323256.2020.1759435|s2cid=221063773}}</ref> For instance, psychological essentialism is correlated with [[racial prejudice]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chen|first1=Jacqueline M.|last2=Ratliff|first2=Kate A.|date=June 2018|title=Psychological Essentialism Predicts Intergroup Bias|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325508855|journal=Social Cognition|volume=36|issue=3|pages=301–323|doi=10.1521/soco.2018.36.3.301|s2cid=150259817}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mandalaywala|first1=Tara M.|last2=Amodio|first2=David M.|last3=Rhodes|first3=Marjorie|date=19 June 2017|title=Essentialism Promotes Racial Prejudice by Increasing Endorsement of Social Hierarchies|url=|journal=Social Psychological and Personality Science|volume=19|issue=4|pages=461–469|doi=10.1177/1948550617707020|pmc=7643920|pmid=33163145}}</ref> Essentialist views about race have also been shown to diminish empathy when dealing with members of another racial group.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tsai |first=Jennifer |date=2022 |title=How Should Educators and Publishers Eliminate Racial Essentialism? |url=https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/how-should-educators-and-publishers-eliminate-racial-essentialism/2022-03 |journal=American Medical Association Journal of Ethics |volume=24 |issue=3}}</ref> In medical sciences, essentialism can lead to a [[Reification (fallacy)|reified]] view of identities, leading to fallacious conclusions and potentially unequal treatment.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Duster|first=Troy|title=Race and Reification in Science|journal=Science|year=2005|volume=307|issue=5712|pages=1050–1051|doi=10.1126/science.1110303|pmid=15718453|s2cid=28235427}}</ref>