non-essentialism

In philosophy, non-essentialism is the belief that any given entity or subject cannot be propositionally defined in terms of specified values or characteristics, which that entity must have in order to be defined as that entity. For example, humanists have an idea of what the essence of being human is: there are specific traits which make something human. This is an essentialist theory.

A non-essentialist theory of humanity would believe that there are no essences or traits that make something human (for example, Sartre's theory of existence preceding essence). This view is somewhat problematic, however, as an entity not defined by any specific values or characteristics may lack any meaningful existence to an observer.