Or, to pick one currently popular example, to “blackmail”.
It seems to me that people often struggle to come up with a technical definition of some word which captures the “essence” of a concept. One particular example which I have some experience with is the definition of “life”. This activity can generate considerable emotion, and I don’t think that the reductionist explanation of “natural kinds” quite applies to this kind of dispute.
Maybe not reductionism vs essentialism in quite the way that Anna intends. But close enough to create confusion. In fact, I might advise Anna to attempt a taxonomy of different kinds of “essence” and different kinds of “reduction” so as to dispel some of the confusion.
Or to “rationalism”.
Or, to pick one currently popular example, to “blackmail”.
It seems to me that people often struggle to come up with a technical definition of some word which captures the “essence” of a concept. One particular example which I have some experience with is the definition of “life”. This activity can generate considerable emotion, and I don’t think that the reductionist explanation of “natural kinds” quite applies to this kind of dispute.
Maybe not reductionism vs essentialism in quite the way that Anna intends. But close enough to create confusion. In fact, I might advise Anna to attempt a taxonomy of different kinds of “essence” and different kinds of “reduction” so as to dispel some of the confusion.