NON-ESSENTIALIST VIEW

By:
Asmer
Mir
Mustufa
Shaharyar
Non essentialism
Essentialism is the view that every entity has a set of attributes
that are necessary to its identity and function. In early Western
thought Plato's idealism held that all things have such an
"essence," an "Idea" or "Form". Likewise, in Categories Aristotle
proposed that all objects have a substance that, as George Lakoff
put it "... make the thing what it is, and without which it would be
not that kind of thing" The contrary view, non-essentialism denies
the need to posit such an "essence'".
The Darwinian Challenge
Darwin proposed two key ideas. The first is the idea that animals and
plants are sometimes born with features that are different from those
of their parents but that they can pass on to their own offspring.
Darwin called these differences variations.

For example,
A giraffe may be born with a longer neck than its parents. The giraffe
can then pass on this variation to its own offspring. Variations like
these, Darwin argued, happen randomly. That is, each happens
completely by chance.
The second key idea Darwin advanced is that because animals produce more
offspring than can survive, they are continuously caught in a great struggle for
existencethat is, they must continuously compete with one another to stay alive:

For Example:
A newborn cat, for example, starts life having to compete with its many brothers
and sisters as they all struggle to suck from their mothers few nipples. Later, the
cat has to compete with other cats for mates and food. Throughout its life, it
struggles to keep away from wolves and other predators. Always it must struggle
against heat and cold, sun and snow, droughts and storms. This is a life-or-death
struggle for every animal, and many fall by the wayside and die.
Over many thousands of years, the inexorable weeding process of
natural selection can make a species (a kind of animal) change into
wholly new species. A species of fish over millions of years may
evolve into a species of frog-like amphibians, the amphibians may
evolve into dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs may evolve into birds:
 There is a theory which states that many living animals can be
observed over the course of time to undergo changes so that new
species are formed. This can be called the Special Theory of
Evolution and can be demonstrated in certain cases by
experiments. On the other hand, there is the theory that all the
living forms in the world have arisen from a single source which
itself came from an inorganic form. This theory can be called the
General Theory of Evolution and the evidence that supports it is
not sufficiently strong to allow us to consider it as anything more
than a working hypothesis.
Yet as disturbing as Darwins ideas about animal species were, his
ideas were even more disturbing when applied to human beings. For
humans are animals, and if Darwins theory applied to animals, it
also applied to humans. Humans also must have evolved! Darwin
himself made the point in The Descent of Man, a book that aroused a
flurry of angry controversy:
Implications for the Traditional View.
take, first, what the Traditional view says about the differences
between humans and animals. The Traditional view says that although
humans are animals, they have a characteristic that makes them
unique. This is the ability to reason.
Contradiction:
Darwin denied this. If humans evolved from lower animals, then all
human abilities evolved from the abilities that their earlier nonhuman
predecessors had. If so, Darwin believed, then all human abilities are
merely more developed variations of the same kinds of abilities that
nonhuman animals have.
Implications for the Traditional View.
Second, and even more important, the Traditional view holds that like all living
things, human beings are obviously designed and so must have a purpose.
Aristotle had noted that human organs, such as the eye, the hand, and the
foot, are like intricate instruments or tools that have been put together to
achieve a specific purpose:
Contradiction
Darwins theory of evolution undermined the idea that living things and their
parts are designed for a purpose Humans and other animals are the products
not of a purposeful plan, Darwin and his modern followers have argued, but of
chance variations and the blind mechanical forces of natural selection. In
Darwins view, humans and their parts provided evidence of evolution, not of
purpose.
Reactions to Darwin.
First, and most controversially, many have argued that Darwins theory
still lacks definitive proof.

As the contemporary biologist Stephen Jay Gould writes,

The history of most fossil species includes two features inconsistent with
[Darwinian] gradualism: 1. Stasis. Most species exhibit no directional
change during their tenure on earth. They appear in the fossil record looking
much the same as when they disappear. . . . 2. Sudden Appearance. In any
local area, a species does not arise gradually by the steady transformation of
its ancestors; it appears all at once and fully formed.17
 Does this debate mean that Darwin was wrong and that we should
reject his theory?
Reactions to Darwin.
Second, even if Darwins theory is correct, some opponents have argued, it is a
mistake to think that evolution proves that human nature is not designed for a
purpose.
For example philosopher George Mavrodes suggests that there are two ways of
understanding evolution
1. A naturalistic understanding of evolution holds that evolution is explicable
entirely in terms of natural law without reference to a divine intention or
intervention.
2. a theistic understanding of evolution holds that there was a divine teleology in
this process, a divine direction at each crucial stage in accordance with divine plan
or intention
Reactions to Darwin.
A third criticism that opponents of Darwin make is an attack on
his claim that there is no fundamental or qualitative difference
between the cognitive abilities of many nonhuman animals and
the reasoning ability of humans.
 Darwins theory undermined the idea that living things and
humans are designed for a purpose
So, does Darwins theory of evolution disprove the Traditional
Western view of human nature? Is evolution compatible with the
idea that humans were designed for a purpose?
Origins of Existentialism
Began in the mid 19th century

-Existentialism existed before the term was coined.

-The first thinkers who expressed significant existentialist ideas

were Soren Kierkegaard and then Frederick Nietzsche. It gained

more shape and definition in the works of Martin Heidegger, and

came to more know with works by Jean-Paul Sartre.

EXISTENTIALISM
Existentialism is a 20th Century philosophical mode of thinking
which is centered on the idea of human freedom & the
responsibility to create the essence of oneself. Existentialists believe
that society should not restrict an individuals life or actions and that these
restrictions inhibit free will and the development of that persons potential.
Concepts

Existence precedes essence: Our birth happens first,

then its upto us to decide who we are. A person is to
create ones own individual meaning by making true
choices
Some interpret the imperative to define oneself as meaning that
anyone can wish to be anything.
The Absurd

The notion of the Absurd contains the idea that there is no

meaning in the world beyond what meaning we give it. This
meaninglessness also encompasses the amorality or "unfairness"
of the world.

metaphorically speaking, there is no such thing as a good person

or a bad person; what happens happens, and it may just as well
happen to a "good" person as to a "bad" person
Authenticity

Authentic existence involves the idea that one has to "create

oneself" and then live in accordance with this self.

The authentic act is one that is in accordance with one's freedom.

Anguish
It is generally held to be a negative feeling arising from the
experience of human freedom and responsibility.

Alice in Wonderland - Alice wishes she hadnt come there but it

was her decision and no one elses.
Despair

Despair, in existentialism, is generally defined as a loss of hope.

More specifically, it is a loss of hope in reaction to a breakdown in

one or more of the defining qualities of one's self or identity.

For example, a singer who loses the ability to sing may despair if
he has nothing else to fall back onnothing to rely on for his
identity. he finds himself unable to be what defined his being.
FEMINIST VIEW

Rationalist view of human nature: Reason is male

Critics of Rationalist view:

1. Only men are human: Reason is male
2. Oppression of women: Men should rule over women
3. Disrespect of the other human parts: Appetites and Emotion

. Lloyd ways of rejecting the Rationalist View:

1. Women have as much reason as men
2. Women traits (Appetites and Emotion) are as valuable as men trait (Reason)
 Gender Discrimination
Examples:
Movie Industries
New York Art Gallery
Politics and Election
Harassment at work
Honor killing
Jobs that commodify pleasant emotions e.g. air hostess,
receptionist
Girls toys limited to beauty, housework and childcare
Late night hangover labeled as slut
Salary
 Inverse Gender Discrimination

Examples:
Adult Industry
Occupation: Marketing, teaching, nurse etc.
Respect
If girl touch boy its okay, but if boy touch girl its harassment
If a male file a case of harassment against female, society make fun of
him
Date and other bills
Domestic violence committed by women against men is almost an
invisible crime.
Men aren't supposed to enjoy "feminine" things, although it's okay
for women to enjoy "masculine" things.
 Sources Of Gender Discrimination
Religion: Adam and eve, Prophets, Family decision making
History: Trojan war (Queen Halen), female sign of bad luck
(buried alive)
Philosophy: Aristotle, friedrich nietzsche etc
Language: Mankind, He for God, Beta for appreciation, female
centered abusive words, insult of male by labeling as female
Education: only boys or girls schools, female teachers, girls are
asked not to argue with boys, boys gets large space in classes, girls
education for marriage, Grades,
Media: Female models, career or family, beauty, men sports
airtime and promotion, movies,
 3 W a y s To D e a l W i t h G e n d e r
Discrimination
1st Wave : Equality

2nd Wave : Identity

3rd Wave : Autonomy