?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=On+the+functional+origins+of+essentialism&rft.creator=Barrett%2C+H.+Clark&rft.subject=Developmental+Psychology&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.description=This+essay+examines+the+proposal+that+psychological+essentialism+results+from+a+history+of+natural+selection+acting+on+human+representation+and+inference+systems.+It+has+been+argued+that+the+features+that+distinguish+essentialist+representational+systems+are+especially+well+suited+for+representing+natural+kinds.+If+the+evolved+function+of+essentialism+is+to+exploit+the+rich+inductive+potential+of+such+kinds%2C+then+it+must+be+subserved+by+cognitive+mechanisms+that+carry+out+at+least+three+distinct+functions%3A+identifying+these+kinds+in+the+environment%2C+constructing+essentialized+representations+of+them%2C+and+constraining+inductive+inferences+about+kinds.+Moreover%2C+there+are+different+kinds+of+kinds%2C+ranging+from+nonliving+substances+to+biological+taxa+to+within-species+kinds+such+as+sex%2C+and+the+causal+processes+that+render+these+categories+coherent+for+the+purposes+of+inductive+generalization+vary.+If+the+evolved+function+of+essentialism+is+to+support+inductive+generalization+under+ignorance+of+true+causes%2C+and+if+kinds+of+kinds+vary+in+the+implicit+assumptions+that+support+valid+inductive+inferences+about+them%2C+then+we+expect+different%2C+functionally+incompatible+modes+of+essentialist+thinking+for+different+kinds.+In+particular%2C+there+should+be+differences+in+how+biological+and+nonbiological+substances%2C+biological+taxa%2C+and+biological+and+social+role+kinds+are+essentialized.+The+functional+differences+between+these+kinds+of+essentialism+are+discussed.&rft.date=2001&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F1729%2F3%2Fessentialism.pdf&rft.identifier=++Barrett%2C+H.+Clark++(2001)+On+the+functional+origins+of+essentialism.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D++++(In+Press)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F1729%2F