Abstract
In acknowledging humanity’s persistent betrayal of its better instincts, what kind of baseline might we establish to better gauge our species’ future potential? We are particularly concerned with that potential as it relates to other species, to what we term the Others (that living constellation of biodiversity at the core of biophilia). We examine certain philosophical questions, particularly those situated in the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein, and others, to fashion a framework in which to explore natural history and human psychology as it applies to our relationship to other species and to the prospects of formulating a theory of biospheric coherence to which humanity is an aid, not an interloper.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Shalizi CR Cosma’s Homepage. http://bactra.org/LaMettri/Machine/. Created 31 Mar 1995. Accessed 7 Oct 2016; See also http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/authors/lamettrie/. Accessed 7 Oct 2016; See Philosophical And Historical Notes By Gertrude Carmon Bussey (1912) Man a machine, including Frederick The Great’s “Eulogy” on La Mettrie and extracts from La Mettrie’s “the natural history of the soul”. Open Court, La Salle
- 2.
See “Three Blind Mice, Michael A. Giannelli (1985) How they run: a critique of behavioral research with animals”. In: Fox MW, Mickley LD (ed) Advances in animal welfare science 1985/86, The Humane Society of the United States, Washington, DC, pp. 109–164. http://animalstudiesrepository.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=acwp_arte. Accessed 4 Sept 2016
- 3.
By Tobias MC (1994) Bear & Co., Santa Fe, NM. Revised 2nd edition, Continuum Books/Herder & Herder, New York, 1998, with a Foreword by Jane Goodall
- 4.
Flanigan A, SFGate Plants That Reproduce From Suckers, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/plants-reproduce-suckers-25699.html. Accessed 4 Aug 2017
- 5.
See Nance J (1981) Discovery of the Tasaday, a photo novel: the stone age meets the space age in the Philippine rain forest. Vera-Reyes, Inc. p VIII
- 6.
See “Bug Eric,” http://bugeric.blogspot.com/2015/12/new-mexico-night-bugs.html. Accessed 4 Aug 2017
- 7.
See Gorlée DL (2012) Wittgenstein In Translation – Exploring Semiotic Signatures. De Gruyter Mouton, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
- 8.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, International Library of Psychology Philosophy and Scientific Method, by Ludwig Wittgenstein, With an Introduction by Bertrand Russell, Harcourt, Brace & Company, Inc., London: Keagan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1922, p.39
- 9.
Ibid., p.43
- 10.
Ibid, p.43
- 11.
Ibid., p.45
- 12.
Shakespeare W The “Tragedy of Macbeth,” Act 1, Scene V, 1605–1606
- 13.
The works of Francis Bacon, lord chancellor of England, A New Edition: With a life of the author, By Basil Montagu, Esq, in Three Volumes, Vol. II., Philadelphia: A. Hart, Late Carey & Hart, 1852, p 136
- 14.
Wingerson L (1998) Unnatural selection: the promise and the power of human gene research, Bantam Books, New York, NY, p 262
- 15.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/climate/climate-change-drastic-warming-trump.html. Accessed 7 Aug 2017
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Michael Charles Tobias and Jane Gray Morrison
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tobias, M.C., Morrison, J.G. (2018). What Does Humanity Mean?. In: The Theoretical Individual. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71443-1_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71443-1_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71442-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71443-1
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)