Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2018
Published In
The Oxford Handbook Of The Human Essence
Abstract
This chapter opens with a social constructionist perspective on human essences. As proposed, essences are not given in nature, but constructed within cultural traditions. Thus, the major challenge is not that of “getting it right” about the essence, but generating accounts that may contribute to society. A criterion of reflective pragmatism is proposed in which questions of contribution and critique prevail. In this light the chapter places in critical light the bio-cognitive and neurological explanations of human nature, especially focusing on the ideological and political implications of these orientations. In contrast, discussion opens on relational conceptions of human essence. Several approaches are considered, including symbolic interactionism and object relations theory in psychoanalysis. However, a fully relational account abandons the individual as the fundamental unit of analysis in favor of relational process out of which the very conception of the individual is formed (or not). Several practical implications are treated including the potentials of relational responsibility
Keywords
bio-cognitive explanation, culture, reflective pragmatism, discourse analysis, essentialism, human nature, social construction, evolution, neurological explanation, relational responsibility
Published By
Oxford University Press
Editor(s)
M. Van Zomeren and J. F. Dovidio
Recommended Citation
Kenneth J. Gergen.
(2018).
"Human Essence: Toward A Relational Reconstruction".
The Oxford Handbook Of The Human Essence.
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-psychology/1067
Comments
This material was originally published in The Oxford Handbook Of The Human Essence edited by Martijn van Zomeren and John F. Dovidio, and has been reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press. For permission to reuse this material, please visit http://global.oup.com/academic/rights.