Essentialism

Abstract

While essentialism originally was uniquely rhetorical in philosophy, based on arguments rather than evidence, in the last generation essentialism has been the subject of a great deal of psychological research. This research raises serious questions about essentialism actually being considered as a theory rather than as a paradigm. Therefore, essentialism may have started as a paradigm, at least in philosophy, but has emerged as an influential psychological theory worthy of inclusion in this volume.