Is there a middle position between social constructionism and essentialism?

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I was was wondering if there was it is possible to have a middle position between social constructionism and essentialism?

-- Kelly Gilmore (kellymgilmore@hotmail.com), October 24, 2004

Answers

I suspect you'll receive a variety of answers to this queston. In part the differences will depend on whether your focus is the ontological question or the epistemological one. It would also depend on what level/type of reality you're trying to explain--for example, reality and knowledge are different depending on whether you're trying to understand the intrapersonal/intrapsychic, the interpersonal/social, the impersonal/natural world, or the transpersonal/theological/philosophical. It is possible to be an essentialist in terms of ontology and still to be a social constructionist epistemologist, skeptical about our ability to know the essential. It's a very complex question, and I suspect you'll be formulating your answer for years to come.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@cox.net), October 25, 2004.

May I suggest that you have a look at Ian Hacking's book _The Social Construction of What?_

-- Christopher Green (cgreen@chass.utoronto.ca), October 27, 2004.

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