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Файл:Philosophy. Educational manual
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There can only be one conclusion from these studies. Human
does not have a special non-biological nature, but is similar to all
other creatures on earth, he obeys the Laws of nature. A person is
more unconscious than conscious personality and, accordingly, all
the achievements of mankind, such as morality, law, religion,
science, have no scientific justification and can be considered as
useless fictions.
Under these conditions, it was necessary to restore the status of
a person as a special being irreducible only to reflexes, instincts and
natural characteristics.
This task was solved by philosophical anthropology, the
purpose of which is to reveal the essential specificity of human being
and his metaphysical position in the Universe.
M. Scheler was the founder of philosophical anthropology. He
insisted that the man had no ready instincts so he must create a new
order. It is for want of development that a new branch of life was
defined; it began from the human. Man is a being defined by his
defects. He is characterized by the non-specificity of his organs, the
absence of instinctive filters, and the vulnerability from the
environment. This openness to the world becomes the fundamental
principle of human contact with the surrounding reality.
The main tasks of philosophical anthropology:
1. Detection of the problem of human origin
(anthroposociogenesis).
2. The study of the special essence of man and his non-
biological nature.
3. Consideration of the relationship between the biological and
the social aspects of human being.
4. Exploring the perspectives of human evolution.
5. Analysis of the phenomena of human existence, such as
love, death, play, power, illness, etc.
So philosophical anthropology is the direction which studies
the man, his nature and his essence.
3. The problem of anthroposociogenesis.
The human is a social being and his conscious life activity
differs from the animals’ life activity. So one of the most important
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problems in philosophy is the formation of human as a rational,
social and active being.
Anthropogeny is genesis or development of the human race as
a special biological species. Anthropogenesis means the process or
point of becoming human and is also called hominization.
Anthropogenesis is being studied by a whole range of sciences where
research is based on the analysis of the hominid triad, which is
understood as genetically fixed traits that make up the specifics of a
person as a biological species: bipedalism; arm adapted for the
manufacture of tools; highly developed brain, providing the
possibility of abstract thinking and language.
Philosophy does not study anthropogenesis but
anthroposociogenesis. In other words, philosophy studies the origin
and evolution of man as a social and cultural being.
There are two approaches to anthroposociogenesis —
creationism and evolutionary theory.
Creationism (from the Latin, "creation" — creation) considers
human race as a product of a special Divine creation, the highest and
most perfect creation of God on earth as "image and likeness" of
God. The main difference between creationism and other models is
determined by the understanding of human race as a fundamentally
different from other entities.
At a broad level, a Creationist is someone who believes in God
as an absolute creator of heaven and earth, out of nothing, by an act
of free will. Such a deity is generally thought to be "transcendent"
meaning beyond human experience, and constantly involved
("immanent") in the creation, ready to intervene as necessary, and
without whose constant concern the creation would cease or
disappear. Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all Creationists in this
sense. Generally they are known as "theists", distinguishing them
from "deists" who believe that there is a designer who might or might
not have created the material on which he (or she or it) is working
and who does not interfere once the designing act is finishing.
Creationists are strongly opposed to a world created by
evolution, particularly to a world as described by Charles Darwin in
his Origin of Species.
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Evolutionism is a term used (often derogatorily) to denote the
theory of evolution. Its exact meaning has changed over time as the
study of evolution has progressed. In the 19
th
century, it was used to
describe the belief that organisms deliberately improved themselves
through progressive inherited change (orthogenesis).
The term "Evolutionism" is very seldom used within the
scientific community, since the scientific position on evolution is
accepted by the overwhelming majority of scientists. Because
evolutionary biology is the default scientific position, it is assumed
that "scientists" or "biologists" are "evolutionists".
Creationists oppose the fact (pattern) of evolution, namely that
all organisms living and dead are the end products of a natural
process of development from a few forms, perhaps ultimately from
inorganic materials ("common descent"). This is often known as
"macroevolution" as opposed to "microevolution", meaning apes to
humans rather than merely one species of finch to another.
Creationists also oppose claims about the total adequacy of the
Darwinian version of the theory of evolution, namely that population
pressures lead to a struggle for existence; that organisms differ in
random ways brought on by errors in the material of heredity
("mutations" in the "genes"); that the struggle and variation leads to
a natural form of selection, with some surviving and reproducing and
others failing; and that the end consequence of all of this is evolution,
in the direction of well-adapted organisms.
Nowadays, the main philosophical concepts of the evolutionary
model of anthropogenesis are: labor, play, psychoanalytic and
semiotic.
The labor theory of anthroposociogenesis (L. Morgan,
Fr. Engels, A. Gehlen) argues that it was labor that contributed to the
consolidation and development of hominid characteristics and
determined the emergence in humans of a special form of adaptation
to the external environment. If an animal adapts to nature by
changing its biological characteristics, then a person adapts by
changing not himself, but external nature.
Thus, labor, as a purposeful human activity to transform
natural reality with the use of labor tools, becomes an essential
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characteristic of a person. Labor simultaneously acts as a source of
human sociality and culture, where the relations of labor and
property were the basis of the first norms of morality, the first
models of law and legislation, new non-natural forms of sociality.
According to this theory the labour formed the man. During the
labour activity the human hand became to operate more flexible and
free. At the same time the brain developed, people lived in common,
so the need of intercourse appeared (namely the speech appeared).
All those factors were decisive in transformation of the monkey into
the man.
But there are opponents to this theory. They ask why people’s
ancestors began to work? Why modern primates don’t work and
don’t change now? If we consider that the labour was the primary
force not the thought we have not enough arguments to explain the
transition from the instinctive labour forms to the teleological
(purposeful) ones. At the same time those transitions occupied a very
short time period — only one thousand years, that is too short for
common evolution.
Nevertheless, labour gives us a real possibility to explain the
anthroposociogenesis process. It also helps to explain the
displacement of genetic to social forms of inheritance. This way the
man realizes new cultural manners of human adaptation to the world;
so the social history begins.
The game model (Johan Huizinga) sees the most important
factor in the genesis of man in the game. The analysis of archaic
forms of culture leads to the conclusion about their playful nature,
which gives rise to the world of symbolic forms of activity, which
played a very significant role in the process of anthroposociogenesis.
The game is a form of free creative activity. It is above
material interests and the need for survival. In this context,
Huizinga's game is opposed to the sphere of work subordinated to
practical strategy. The phenomena of spiritual culture (art, religion)
are useless for providing the utilitarian aspects of life, however, it is
with their genesis that a special human world arises. At the same
time, the game, to a lesser extent than labor, contributes to the
training of organs and the consolidation of skills.
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The psychoanalytic concept (Z. Freud, K. G. Jung, A. Adler)
connects the genesis of man and human culture with the
establishment of a cult based on totem and taboo. Their emergence is
associated with the revolt of sons against their father in the primitive
horde, which resulted in the murder of the leader of the community,
who was deified in the form of a totem as a generic ancestor. The
regulation of the sphere of sexual relations, which once led to
tragedy, becomes the source of the emergence of religion and
morality, which determined the further development of culture and
man.
The semiotic model (C. Levi-Strauss, J. Derida,
O. Rosenstock-Hussy) interprets man as the only being capable of
building symbolic systems.
In this theoretical model, culture is viewed as a sign-symbolic
reality, the basis of which is language. Through language, certain
objects and processes are distinguished from reality, which are given
meanings and significances. The perception of reality by a person is
thus possible in the forms and perspectives given by the language.
Language here turns from a tool of communication into a true
creator of culture and man. At the same time, a wide variety of
cultural phenomena can be considered as a language, for example,
kinship systems, rituals, power structures.
So, along with the dominant approaches to the study of the
origin of man, philosophy has its own scientific aspect, based on the
assumption of a special role of man among other living beings.
4. Biosocial nature and essence of man.
The concepts of "nature" and "essence" of human are often
used as synonyms. However, a conceptual distinction can be made
between them. In the Marxist system of reasoning, the concept of
"nature" usually correlated with the biological nature of man, while
the "essence" of man was seen in his sociality, in his social nature.
By "human nature" is meant persistent, unchanging, common
features and properties that express his nature as a living being,
which are inherent in Homo sapiens at all times, regardless of
biological evolution and historical process. To name these signs is to
express human nature.
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According to the naturalistic theory (biologization theory), the
essence of man is natural: a man concentrates in himself and radiates
all the main productive and creative forces of nature itself. In the face
of man, nature cognizes itself and comes to self-consciousness and
self-knowledge. Nature is a mother, and people are her most gifted
children.
The shortcomings of naturalism are largely overcome by the
interpretation of the sociological concept: the essence of man is
supernatural, social. The social is the forms of supernatural activity
that arise in the joint activity and communication of people, are fixed
in the human body neurophysiologically and act as human
abilities — socially significant ways of activity learned by a person.
Abilities do not grow out of the organic body of a person, but out of
his social body (joint activity and communication) and are fixed in
the individual bodily-mentally-spiritually. This concept is based not
on natural nature but on the "second nature" (culture).
So, Human is a representative of biological species but
a peculiar kind of specie that makes culture the way of adaptation to
the environment.
In understanding the nature and essence of man, two more
extremes can be noted. In the first group of theories —
anthropological essentialism, from the word "essentia" (essence) —
it is argued that the essence of a person is predetermined by
a separate individual.
The second group of theories — anthropological existentialism,
from the word "existence" — asserts the opposite: the essence of
a person is not predetermined for him. The existence (existentia) of
a person precedes his essence, which is constituted in acts of choice,
self-design and self-responsibility for choice and project of his life.
If essentialism ignores the subjective side of human existence,
then existentialism ignores the objective, socially conditioned one; if,
according to essentialism, a person is complete, monolithic, stopped
in development, not procedural; for existentialists, the essence of
a person is unique, diverse, inimitable and incomparable, which
destroys the generic certainty of a person.
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A person is determined solely by his own free decisions, that
is, your actions determine your nature, each of your choices is free,
and you bear full responsibility for it. It was man, his moral choice,
the problems of freedom and responsibility that were placed by
existentialists at the center of their philosophical constructions.
So, summing up all the approaches, we can say that the essence
of a person is revealed in his properties, such as:
Irreducibility. Man is irreducible to his biological species: if he
grows up among wolves, he will become a wolf according to his
habits, and among monkeys, he will become a monkey. But, unlike
an animal, it is not reducible to either climate or food — it can live in
almost any climate, in any geographical conditions, adapts to any
food.
A person is always trying to become someone — an
accountant, an artist, a programmer, etc. But having comprehended
all the subtleties of his profession, he begins to understand that the
point is not to become someone, but to remain himself in any
profession — a person.
Uncertainty by the outside world. A person is not determined
by external necessity, but is self-determined, that is, a need for
a person can only be internal.
A person is never absolutely free, he constantly depends on a
thousand factors that determine his behavior, his attitude towards
others. A person depends on heredity, on climate, on culture, on the
political system, on wages, on family, and so on. But, the intersection
of these dependencies creates such a whirlpool of accidents that it is
impossible to predict which one is the most crucial. We depend on
many things outwardly, but we must not depend on anything
inwardly. If I live a certain way because I chose to live that way, then
I am the main reason for my life, and not external circumstances.
Indispensability and uniqueness. The indispensability of a
person is primarily expressed in the fact that he must find his own
cause, for the sake of which he came into the world. In the same way,
uniqueness is a fundamental characteristic of a person. Each person
is unique and unrepeatable. This is especially evident in the example
of great people. But any person, although he did not create anything
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great in culture or politics, can say about his life: "I felt and
experienced in a way that no one else experienced or felt, and my
experiences, my understanding of the world also complement the
Universe. Just like the experiences of Shakespeare or Remarque, and
without them the world would not be complete".
Ineffability. A person can be known and described only
indirectly, primarily by the products of his creativity. A person wants
to express himself, his essence, but since it is irreducible to either
words, or notes, or pictures, then a complete expression is never
obtained. We know a lot about man thanks to science, philosophy,
art, but he still continues to remain an incomprehensible mystery
for us.
The need for transcendence. Man is such a creature that
constantly strives to overcome his own boundaries (the boundaries of
his spiritual abilities, the finiteness of earthly, physical life).
Transcending is a constant stay of a person on the border between
what is clear and familiar to him, and what is not clear to him but
significant to him. A person strives to understand the secret of birth,
death, betrayal, love, etc.
Human existence is a world dominated by the highest levels of
personal spirituality. The degree of development of a person, his selfawareness and spiritual growth are associated with the complication
of the action of mediated psychological processes — thinking,
imagination, conscience, which opens up opportunities for
a projective attitude of a person to his individual history, the
implementation of free choice and the solution of meaningful life
problems.
5. Human, individuality, personality.
Human is a representative of biological species that makes
culture the way of adaptation to the environment.
Also, the man can be defined as the concept that characterizes
the virtues and the abilities inherent to all the human kind.
Human — is a concept that characterized qualities and abilities
inherent to the human race.
Frequently, every human is called as an individual, as
a personality and an individuality. An individual is a separate man
89
who is the bearer of certain social virtues. This concept allows us to
study the dependence of human behaviour on the existing social
groups and institutes. The key problem in considering the individual
is the problem of the relationship between the biological and the
social.
A person as an individual is also a separate person, but when
characterizing him, not general human properties are considered, but
his unique, special biopsychosocial qualities. The main question in
the characterization of individuality is the correlation and mutual
agreement in it of the social, general and uniquely specific nature.
The personality is formed in socialization process.
A personality socialization is the human social virtues forming
process. Every personality has a certain structure which includes all
the culture levels and its core is the world-outlook.
Besides a personality is a concrete historical phenomenon
because every epoch produces its specific social type of person. An
individuality and a personality fix different sides of human social
significant virtues. An individuality is estimated for their originality,
a personality — for their independence and strength. An
individuality stresses the peculiarity of human social virtues. Every
epoch forms its values which define human behaviour.
Philosophical anthropology is the philosophy of man that chose
as its subject the "proper human" being sphere. This direction tries
with the help of anthropological principle to explain the man and the
surrounding world, to understand the man as the unique phenomenon
of life, as the creator of culture and history.
Practical tasks and questions
1. We refer to human existence as something known. What
does the thesis mean?
2. Why is the human being a problem for philosophy?
3. Self-interpretation belongs to being. What does the thesis
mean?
4. How is being human understood in your culture?
5. What do you think it means to be human?
90
6. How does the theory of evolution explain the human
problem?
7. How does psychoanalysis explain the problem of man?
8. What tasks of philosophical anthropology do you know?
9. Do you agree with the opinion of the theory of evolution and
psychoanalysis regarding the essence of man?
10. Why can't we use the term "anthropogenesis" in
philosophy, but "anthroposociogenesis"?
11. What two approaches is in anthroposociogenesis?
12. What is the main difference between creationism and other
models?
13. What is the main difference between evolutionary theory
and other models?
References
1. Alvis, J.W. God’s Playthings: Eugen Fink’s Phenomenology
of Religion in Play as Symbol of the World // Research in
Phenomenology. — 2019. — № 49. — P. 88–117.
2. Pansera, M.T. Philosophical anthropology. — URL:
https://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/C04/E6-20D-68-15.pdf (дата
обращения: 10.07.2023).
3. Peterson, K.R. All That We Are: Philosophical
Anthropology and Ecophilosophy. — URL:
https://germanic.osu.edu/sites/germanic.osu.edu/files/rg_Peterson.pdf
pdf (дата обращения: 10.07.2023).
4. Sartre, J.-P. Existentialism is a Humanism. — URL:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sartre/pdf (дата обращения:
10.07.2023).
5. Understanding the Phenomenon of Love // Submitted by
Alexander E. Scavone, to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy, August 2014.
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