Historical Biological Essentialism

Abstract The consensus in the philosophy of biology is that a taxon’s essence or nature is not intrinsic but wholly relational, particularly historical. (A) Why believe this? (B) What precisely is this essence? In answer to (A), the chapter argues that historical/evolutionary explanations demand that there be an historical component to the essence, at least. A good answer to (B) must be complete in that it distinguishes one taxon from another and plausible in that posits an essence that can bear the explanatory burden. Answers found in the literature do not pass this test. The chapter argues that the relevant history of a taxon is of organisms of a certain intrinsic kind evolving into organisms of a certain other intrinsic kind, until we reach the taxon in question. The historical component to the essence requires an intrinsic component.