essentialism
Fixed-nature belief system
Essentialism is the philosophical view that things have an underlying nature or set of fixed properties that make them what they are.
In gender essentialism, for instance, men and women are thought to have innate, unchangeable characteristics.
The word often carries critical overtones—accusing someone of essentialism suggests they're ignoring how categories are socially constructed or historically contingent: Her argument relies on a crude essentialism about national character.
Study of existence's nature
- PlatonismPhilosophy emphasizing ideal Forms
- universalsProperties holding across all
- formsVarieties or documents
- AristotelianOf ancient systematic philosophy
metaphysics · essences · properties · idealism · immutable · eternal · Socratic · categorization
Forming the base
- inherentExisting as essential part
- indispensableUtterly required, irreplaceable
- integralAntiderivative or crucial component
- constitutiveForming essential structure
core · underlying · innate · immanent · inbuilt · native · natural · primary
Individual identity, personhood
- personhoodStatus as a person
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
- innate traitsQualities present from birth
- inherent natureEssential quality within something
stereotyping · reductionism · categorization · groupthink · othering · innateness · immutability · identity politics
Finest taxonomic rank
- taxonomyScience of categorical arrangement
- classificationSystematic grouping by traits
- geneticsScience of hereditary transmission
- traitsDistinguishing personal features
phenotype · genotype · adaptation · inheritance · typology · Linnaean · morphology · phylogeny
First functional specimen
- epitomePerfect representative of type
- exemplarTypical perfect instance
- paradigmGoverning framework of thought
- idealStandard of perfection
template · type · universal · category · schema · abstraction · generalization · typification
ontology
Study of existence's nature
- PlatonismPhilosophy emphasizing ideal Forms
- universalsProperties holding across all
- formsVarieties or documents
Aristotelian · metaphysics · essences · properties · idealism · immutable · eternal · Socratic · categorization · typology
fundamental
Forming the base
- inherentExisting as essential part
- indispensableUtterly required, irreplaceable
- integralAntiderivative or crucial component
constitutive · core · underlying · innate · immanent · inbuilt · native · natural · primary · primal
selfhood
Individual identity, personhood
- personhoodStatus as a person
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
- innate traitsQualities present from birth
inherent nature · stereotyping · reductionism · categorization · groupthink · othering · innateness · immutability · identity politics
species
Finest taxonomic rank
- taxonomyScience of categorical arrangement
- classificationSystematic grouping by traits
- geneticsScience of hereditary transmission
traits · phenotype · genotype · adaptation · inheritance · typology · Linnaean · morphology · phylogeny · cladistics
prototype
First functional specimen
- epitomePerfect representative of type
- exemplarTypical perfect instance
- paradigmGoverning framework of thought
ideal · template · type · universal · category · schema · abstraction · generalization · typification · idealization
- ismscapitalism, socialism, communism, anarchism, racism
- metaphysicsbeing, reality, existence, substance theory, ontology
- philosophiesempiricism, stoicism, nihilism, idealism, materialism
- philosophyethics, logic, metaphysics, ontology, epistemology
- -ismsatomism, postmodernism, feminism, Marxism, Darwinism
- minimalismminimalism, declutter, decluttering, simplicity, less is more
essentialismconstructivism
Active knowledge-building theory
nominalism · existentialism · historicism · poststructuralism · conventionalism
essentialismenvironmentalism
Advocacy for nature protection
nurture · behaviorism · tabula rasa · contextualism · interactionism
essentialismconstructionism
Learning by making things
intersectionality · standpoint theory · poststructuralism · deconstructionism · queer theory