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Full Description
Essences have been assigned important but controversial explanatory roles in philosophical, scientific, and social theorizing. Is it possible for the same organism to be first a caterpillar and then a butterfly? Is it impossible for a human being to transform into an insect like Gregor Samsa does in Kafka's The Metamorphosis? Is it impossible for Lot's wife to survive being turned into a pillar of salt? Traditionally, essences (or natures) have been thought to help answer such central questions about existence, identity, persistence, and modality. These questions are not only of great philosophical interest, they also are of great interest to society at large.
This Handbook surveys the state of the art on essence. Core issues about essence are discussed in 33 chapters, all of them written exclusively for this volume by leading experts. They are organized into the following four major parts, each with its own introduction that provides a summary and comparison of the part's chapters:
History
Essence and Essentialisms: Themes and Variations
Applications
Anti-Essentialist Challenges.
The volume is accessible enough for students while also providing enough details to make it a valuable reference for researchers.
While the notion of essence has been targeted for sustained criticisms since antiquity, recent work has renewed interest in the topic. This Handbook explains and synthesizes much of this current interest, placing essence within its historical context and drawing connections to many contemporary areas of philosophy as well as to scholarly work in other disciplines. With cross-references in each chapter and a comprehensive index, The Routledge Handbook of Essence in Philosophy is a useful resource and essential reading for anyone, whether in or out of academic philosophy, seeking clarification on one of philosophy's most distinctive and notorious notions.
Contents
Introduction Kathrin Koslicki and Michael J. Raven Part 1: History 1. Ancient Marko Malink 2. Medieval Gloria Frost 3. Modern Anat Schechtman 4. Pragmatism Andrew Howat 5. Contemporary (Phenomenological Tradition) Kevin Mulligan 6. Contemporary (Analytic Tradition) Robert Michels Part 2: Essence and Essentialisms: Themes and Variations 7. Modal Conceptions of Essence Alessandro Torza 8. Non-modal Conceptions of Essence Fabrice Correia 9. Essences of Individuals Marco Marabello 10. Natural Kind Essentialsm Tuomas Tahko 11. Origin Essentialism Teresa Robertson Ishii 12. Scientific Essentialism Travis Dumsday 13. Dispositional Essentialism Ka Ho Lam 14. Epistemology of Essence Antonella Mallozzi 15. Language of Essence Katherine Ritchie 16. Logic of Essence Jon Litland Part 3: Applications 17. Artifacts, Artworks, and Social Objects Asya Passinsky 18. Biological Species Ingo Brigandt 19. Identity, Persistence, and Individuation Maria Scarpati 20. Essence, Grounding, and Explanation David Kovacs 21. The "Reduction" of Necessity to Non-Modal Essence Kathrin Koslicki 22. Persons Annina Loets 23. Psychiatric Kinds Danielle Brown 24. Race Ron Mallon 25. Sex and Gender Esther Rosario 26. Social Justice Natalie Stoljar 27. Unity Charlotte Witt 28. Ethical Value Julie Tannenbaum and Stavroula Glezakos Part 4: Anti-essentialist Challenges 29. Quinean Anti-Essentialism Kit Fine 30. Conventionalism Alan Sidelle and Jonathan Livingstone-Banks 31. Social Construction Aaron Griffith 32. Conferralism Anand Vaidya and Michael Wallner 33. Wittgenstein Arata Hamawaki. Index
