Human Being: A Philosophical and Historical Perspective
Socialization and Culture
Socialization is the process by which an individual acquires the rules of conduct, prevailing values, and culture of a particular social group. This process, of variable length, focuses on the early years when learning by imitation is prominent. Following this, the individual is integrated into education.
A society is a set of individuals who share customs, conduct, and culture, and who interact with each other to form a group or community.
Culture refers to the patterns of human activities and the symbolic structures that give meaning to such activity.
Xenophobia and Racism
Xenophobia is the hostility toward people from different cultures or those regarded as foreign. It can manifest as racial, cultural, or religious prejudice. With the rise of fascist ideologies in the 20th century, xenophobia became a severe problem that continues to affect many societies worldwide.
Racism is the attitude that recognizes and states that people of different races differ in value. These perceived differences can be classified hierarchically, resulting in economic, political, and social advantages for one group over others. Historically, racism has been used to justify imperialism, slavery, and genocide.
Ethnocentrism and Stoicism
Ethnocentrism is the attitude where members of an ethnic group consider their group superior to other racial or cultural groups.
Stoicism is characterized by hopelessness, indifference to pleasure or suffering, the ability to endure pain with firmness, and not being affected by passions.
The Greek Mentality
The Human Being in Nature
The ancient Greeks viewed human beings as a special part of nature, distinct from other natural beings. Humans are the only animals that think and speak, are concerned with finding happiness, and attempt to understand the world around them. They can analyze the nature of things and seek truth.
The Polis and Happiness
The Greek mind sees the polis (society) as the place where human beings can achieve happiness.
Ancient Greek Philosophers
Plato (428-347 BC)
Plato believed man is a being divided between two worlds: the spiritual world, to which he belongs because he has a rational soul, and the material world, to which he is tied by his corporeal condition. He believed the body is made of matter and is mortal, while the soul belongs to the world of ideas and is spiritual, pure, and immortal. Souls are conceived as separate and hidden within bodies.
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
Aristotle believed the human being has a physical body with a vegetative soul and a sensitive soul. It is characteristic of humans to have a rational soul, which allows them to speak, reason, and distinguish good from evil. He conceived of the soul as a function of the organism. For him, the human being is a unity of substance—a single reality in which body and soul are distinguishable but not separable. Humans are gregarious by nature and, through reason and language, can determine what is just and unjust. Humans can only thrive if the polis provides a suitable environment.
The Hellenistic Period (323-30 BC)
The Hellenistic period marked the end of the classical Greek period. Previously, the individual was identified with the polis, and their prosperity depended on the city’s welfare. In the Hellenistic period, the individual was discovered as unique and isolated in the world.
Epicureanism
Epicurus (341-270 BC) advocated for a materialist and monist anthropology. He believed everything is composed of material atoms, including humans.
Dualist and Monist Anthropology
Dualist anthropology assumes a double substance in humans: the material body and a spiritual, emotional, or mental soul. This view argues that human activities like thought, language, and morality cannot be reduced to material explanations.
Monist and materialist anthropology claims that humans are made of a single material substance and that any dualist view is false. The soul is seen as a special function of the body. The existence of an immaterial principle is considered unprovable and unnecessary to explain human behavior.
The Christian Conception of Human Beings
Christianity introduced new ideas regarding human beings:
- All humans are equal and have equal dignity as children of God.
- Human beings are created rational and free.
- Human life has a transcendent meaning beyond this world. Earthly life is preparation for eternity with God.
Christianity views humans as needing salvation from original sin, achievable through Jesus Christ. Salvation is obtained through belonging to the Church, accepting its message, and living according to the Gospel.
The Renaissance (15th Century)
The Renaissance was a cultural renewal movement that began in Italy and spread throughout Europe. It aimed to recover the classical world.
- Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) saw humans as capable of mastering and transforming nature.
- Giovanni Pico (1463-1494) emphasized radical freedom, believing humans have no fixed nature.
- Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) viewed men as inherently evil, cruel, and hypocritical.
Modernity (Beginning 17th Century)
Modernity emphasizes the human being as a thinking subject. Descartes is a representative of anthropological dualism, believing the human is composed of body and spirit, matter and mind, with the mind capable of existing independently.
The Enlightenment
- The Enlightenment promoted the idea of human progress through rationality.
- It emphasized moral and intellectual autonomy. Kant saw modernity as the arrival of man’s coming of age.
Darwin and Marx
Charles Darwin
Darwin argued that all living things are related and evolved from a common ancestor, with humans being no exception.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Marx viewed humans as a product of nature, but capable of producing their own livelihood through work. He criticized the division of labor and unequal distribution of wealth, leading to alienation where humans lose their humanity and become objects of exploitation.