ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that category labels both invite and impede conceptual change, and that these effects stem from essentialist assumptions. On the one hand, essentialism is a placeholder notion, in which members of a category share non-obvious features and a causal “essence.” This perspective motivates the discovery of new and unexpected aspects of categories. On the other hand, essentialism promotes viewing categories as immutable and having sharp boundaries. This perspective may stand in the way of considering competing views, and impede conceptual changes that require alternative ontological frameworks (e.g., evolutionary models of species; causes that are systemic rather than inherent in an individual).
