Human: A History - Karolina Hubner

What does it mean to be human? Is there something that makes us distinct from computers, other great apes, Martians, gods? Is there philosophical, ethical, or political value in continuing to think in terms of a common human nature? Or should we rather throw this concept into the dustbin of history?

A paradox of the concept of "human nature" is that it holds both the promise of universal equality ―insofar as it takes us all to share a common nature―while all too often rationalizing exploitation, oppression, and even violence against other individuals and other species. Most appallingly, differences in skin color and other physiological traits have been viewed as signs of a "lesser" humanity, or of outright inhumanity, and used to justify great harms. The volume asks: is the concept of human nature separable from the racist, sexist, and speciest abuse that has been made of it? And is it even possible―or desirable―to articulate a notion of human nature unaffected by race or gender or class, as if it were possible to observe humanity in a pure form?