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It is not the case that Relations such as genealogy and interbreeding satisfy the membership requirement of essentialism.
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Reasons For
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Reason for 1 of 2
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1.
Genealogical and interbreeding relations are historical and contingent, not necessary in the modal sense essentialism requires.
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2.
A tiger born via artificial parthenogenesis without interbreeding remains a tiger, showing interbreeding is not necessary for membership.
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3.
Essentialism demands intrinsic microstructural properties as essences, not extrinsic relational histories (Kripke, Hull 1965 critique).
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Reason for 2 of 2
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1.
Species boundaries are indeterminate at temporal and geographic margins, so no relation yields sharp necessary-and-sufficient membership conditions.
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2.
Mayr's biological species concept and Ghiselin's individual-organism thesis show species are spatiotemporally bounded individuals, not natural kinds with essences.
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Reasons Against
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Reason against
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1.
Certain relations are necessary and sufficient for membership in a species.
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2.
The membership requirement states that the essence of a kind provides the necessary and sufficient conditions for membership in that kind.
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