TALK: "Social Kind Essentialism" by Dr Asya Passinsky (Department of Philosophy, CEU Vienna)

Wednesday, December 1st, 3-5pm (CET)

 

Abstract:
 
There is widespread opposition to so-called essentialism in contemporary social theory. At the same time, the notion of essence has been revived and put to work in contemporary analytic metaphysics. Much of this literature on essence, however, has remained fairly insular. And in particular, it has made limited contact with discussions in social theory. The aim of this paper is to re-examine the prospects for essentialism in social theory, in light of these developments in the study of essence. My contention is that given a contemporary neo-Aristotelian construal of essence, social kind essentialism is a viable doctrine that provides a helpful framework for social theorizing. Specifically, I argue that neo-Aristotelian social kind essentialism avoids the main objections that social theorists have raised against other brands of social kind essentialism, and that it provides a helpful framework for projects in social construction and feminist metaphysics.