What makes us human?

[Hellenologophilia]

Not sure if this question has been raised but, what (in a philosophical not taxonomical sense) makes us human?

Hopefully no Descartes answers, but you never know

 

[Zylstra]

Are you human? Do you consider yourself human because you believe you meet some definition thereof, or because the definition is tailored to suit you? Are you a good person? If yes, why? Is it because you are like a good person or because a good person is like you?

 

[e2iPi]

I do not believe you can so easily separate biology from the human condition. Our ability to reason, experience love or hate, have compassion and understanding or wage war are all based in the biology that makes us human. So the short answer to your question is: our evolutionary history and biology.

-1

 

[WolfAU]

Your assuming there is a clear cognitive distinction between us and other higher mammals...

First off I'd recommend you look up the word "Sapience", it may help a bit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapience

Secondly, I think a large factor in the difference between us and other higher mammals in terms of our achievements is complex language, which allows us to share thoughts, knowledge, complex emotions etc. Through this we can have a much greater understanding of our world, without our minds really being that different.

 

[ninja_lord666]

What makes us human? We identify ourselves as such. That is all. Sure, there are biological and taxonomical differences between us and other life forms, but there are also differences between you and me and everyone else. What is human? Can we all be human even with these differences? Person A might have brown hair and Person B might have blond hair. Are they both human, or is only one of them human?They are different, but our definitions would say that, yes, they both are, but why? There are many similarities between Person A and Person B, but there are also many similarities between Person A and a chimpanzee, between Person A and a rabbit, between Person A and a tree. We cannot look at the biological and taxonomical similarities to identify humans. We can't look at differences, either; Linneaus tried that and we were given a form of categorization that modern evolutionary research has proven to be completely false. All life forms are categorized as the same as their evolutionary predecessors. We are monkeys, so how can we be different from them? You were right in placing this in the Philosophy section as science says that there is no difference between us and them. What makes us human, what makes us different, what makes us unique is thus: arrogance. We want to be different, so we are. We want to be special, so we are. The mind? Sentience? Sapience? Poor excuses. Yes, we may be able to think and use logic, but, really, is that special? If our technological advances were halted long enough that the Europeans couldn't have visited the Americas for another several million years, eventually, the people isolated in the Americas would have evolved into a totally new species and couldn't be considered 'human' anymore as they wouldn't be able to breed with the Europeans. Or, maybe, they would be the humans and the Europeans would be different? If there is intelligent life on other planets, it would be pretty easy to surmise that they'd be 'different' from us, so would they couldn't be human, either, yet, they'd have 'mind' and 'sentience' and 'sapience'. Even if we look at this from those differences, we cannot be unique or special. Therefore, the only logical conclusion that can be reached is that we are human only insomuch as that's what we call ourselves.

 

[Counterpoint]

Our ability for higher level thinking.

 

[Don-Sama]

Well one thing is our understanding of time, that we can plan ahead, think ahead, and think of the past.
And the understandence that time will run out.

oh and perhaps one other thing, the hole ''does the cost Justifies the means?''

well that's one thing.

 

[e2iPi]

Well one thing is our understanding of time, that we can plan ahead, think ahead, and think of the past.

So can bottlenose dolphins, according to an article I recently read.

I know, i know, I'm looking. Damnit, I JUST read the thing to, not a week or two ago.

 

[SchrodingersFinch]

Well one thing is our understanding of time, that we can plan ahead, think ahead, and think of the past.
And the understandence that time will run out.

So can chimps, at least the planning part. This was posted on the old forum:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/mar/09/chimp-zoo-stones-science

 

[Zylstra]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2009/may/25/zoology-animalbehaviour

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2009/apr/01/counting-chicks-arithmetic

 

[Zylstra]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pFv8CAniYQ&feature=player_embedded

We are human because it is our language and we define ourselves as such

 

[Witalian]

Not sure if this question has been raised but, what (in a philosophical not taxonomical sense) makes us human?

Hopefully no Descartes answers, but you never know

Since philosophy does not deal(as far as I know) with who belonges to what species(not even philosophical antropolgy), than nothing in philosophy makes us human. This is as asking what make us human in playing Rome Total War. The fact that we are the first species on this planet who learned to do it (both philisophy and total war)does not mean that there is something intrinsic to humanity in them. For exaple the bats and whales have develpoed sonar long before us, yet they do not hold the patent for it, so we developped our own sonars and radars and other gadjets. If we consider some actuivity to be today only exercised by us, that does not mean that other life forms won't learn to do this trick some day. We may be the best in some things like : comunication, analitical thinking, abstract thinking and skillful usage of tools, but that does not mean that other animals are not capable of doing these things, althought not as good as us. the fact that an eagle have way better sight than us does not mean that we are blind, so the fact that we are much better at abstract thinking does not mean that the other animals are incapable of it.

 

[Witalian]

Well one thing is our understanding of time, that we can plan ahead, think ahead, and think of the past.
And the understandence that time will run out.

oh and perhaps one other thing, the hole ''does the cost Justifies the means?''

well that's one thing.

Our ability to plan ahed is not nearly as good as we wishfully think it is.
And we don't have an understanding of time. Our intuistive notion of time is primitive and it's wrong.
We do have functional understanding of time. That is - we understand it as much as we need to navigate our way in "middle world" , and any animal complex enough to have some control over it's own behaviour do have functional undurstanding of time.

 

[MRaverz]

What makes us separate from animals?

Well, as far as we know we're the only ones to have began building civilization which is probably down to complex language.


There could also be our ability to imagine and to think critically, perhaps even our consciousness. But how can we be sure that other animals don't share this?

 

[Zylstra]

What makes us separate from animals?

Well, as far as we know we're the only ones to have began building civilization which is probably down to complex language.

Define 'civilization' and 'complex language'

 

[MRaverz]

Define 'civilization' and 'complex language'

Civilization - A society with complex systems such as law and politics which are put in place by a method separate to common moral values but may still be based upon a common (or enforced) moral view of the time.
Complex language - The linguistic ability to be able to do more than convey simple orders or instructions to others. Where other animals may have simple languages consisting of messages such as 'Danger, keep away' or 'I'm hungry' - humans are able to create stories, poetry and use complicated (and somewhat confusing) grammar then transcribe this into text.

I'm also going to throw in our abilities to form opinions which are not necessary for breeding, survival etc. E.g. I like thunderstorms but my opinion on them does not convey any advantage to me.

Essentially it's our ability to involve ourselves in complex behaviour which isn't strictly necessary for survival of species. As far as I know, although some species may hint at such behaviour - none take it to the level we do.

 

[Witalian]

Civilization - A society with complex systems such as law and politics which are put in place by a method separate to common moral values but may still be based upon a common (or enforced) moral view of the time.
Complex language - The linguistic ability to be able to do more than convey simple orders or instructions to others. Where other animals may have simple languages consisting of messages such as 'Danger, keep away' or 'I'm hungry' - humans are able to create stories, poetry and use complicated (and somewhat confusing) grammar then transcribe this into text.

This begs the question how complex exactly do you need your society and language to be, to clasify it as something separate of the animal kingdom. How about bees? They are building complex structures, live in large colonies, obey the authority of the queen, make combat togeder against common enemies, they have separation of labor - some gather food others guard the hive, others make ventilation, others take care of the larvas. And their language, although just body language, is complex enough to alow them to describe to each other copmlex pathways to food sources.

So how much complex it needs to be to consider them separate from animals?

 

[Zylstra]

Civilization - A society with complex systems such as law

Define 'law'. Must it be codified and written? What about 'common law'? Can tradition be considered law if it commands punishment for transgressions against ethical systems or societal norms? Must law be 'moral' or 'ethical' and complex, or is societal retribution a form of law? What are the differences between a single man's retribution, a lynch mob, tribal elders, and a court system? How formal must the system be to qualify as 'law' fitting 'civilization'?

and politics

Clarify. Is politics a public thing? Does a civilization cease to be civilization if opposition is stamped out and mate3rs are not discussed?

which are put in place by a method separate to common moral values but may still be based upon a common (or enforced) moral view of the time.

Define morality and explain this separation.

Complex language - The linguistic ability to be able to do more than convey simple orders or instructions to others.

Define 'simple'

Where other animals may have simple languages consisting of messages such as 'Danger, keep away' or 'I'm hungry' - humans are able to create stories, poetry and use complicated (and somewhat confusing) grammar then transcribe this into text.

Bees use a language of steps or 'dance' to give instructions to flowers. Is that 'complex' enough or is it still 'simple instructions'? Can the complexity of a language to quantified and measured?

I'm also going to throw in our abilities to form opinions which are not necessary for breeding, survival etc. E.g. I like thunderstorms but my opinion on them does not convey any advantage to me.

For civilization, or for what makes us 'human'?

It seems you're trying to define 'human' in a way that makes us fit instead of simple acknowledging that we are human because it is the designation we give ourselves and then seeking to discern what all members of our species have in common that might set them apart from other species.

Essentially it's our ability to involve ourselves in complex behaviour which isn't strictly necessary for survival of species. As far as I know, although some species may hint at such behaviour - none take it to the level we do.

Of course, using your arguments, any alien species with these traits would be 'human' by your definition, despite not being the same species. Perhaps defining what is 'human' is not the right question to be asking?

 

[Zylstra]

This begs the question how complex exactly do you need your society and language to be, to clasify it as something separate of the animal kingdom.

Separate from the animal kingdom? :|

 

[Witalian]

The only thimg that truly saparates us from other animals is thechnology. We are the geeks of the planet. Other animals have been observed to sometimes use tools for some primitive pupouses, but none have yet started to modify and improve their tools and to use them so extensivly so that it's lifestile become dependant of the tools.
We rule the world because we are geeks instead of brutes.