ABSTRACT
The essays in this anthology cover a wide range of perspectives and points of view. As a supplement and complement to them, I will endeavor to look at the core of the debate between social constructionists and essentialists. First, I will distinguish the social constructionist controversy from other issues with which it is often confused. Second, I will consider some social constructionist arguments against essentialism; I will show that these arguments miss their mark by focusing on inessential details of essentialism. Third, I will sketch a more sophisticated version of essentialism and briefly consider some arguments for it. Fourth, I will turn to social constructionism and differentiate among various claims of social constructionists that are commonly conflated. Finally, I will turn to some arguments for social constructionism.
