Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Humans: Humans, or Homo sapiens, are the most intelligent and widespread species of primates. Humans are characterized by bipedalism, large brains, and capacity for articulate speech and abstract reasoning. Humans are social creatures who live in complex societies. See also Society, Reason, Thinking, Brain, Intelligence, Language._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Dictionary of Arguments. | |||
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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin on Humans - Dictionary of Arguments
Gould II 243 Human/Teilhard/Gould: Teilhard thesis: "The human mind has accumulated so much that it develops self-awareness. Teilhard praises the Austrian biologist Eduard Suess for the term "biosphere" he coined as an addition to the traditional concentric layers of the lithosphere and atmosphere. But Teilhard argues that consciousness has an additional layer: the "psychologically reflective human layer, the noosphere". Teilhard describes the noosphere as a physical reality, a thin, fragile layer that now extended to the appearance of our ancestors in Africa and the subsequent emigration throughout the world. Teilhard thesis: "Evolution has now come halfway. The reign of the mind begins, so far everything was matter...+.. GouldVsTeilhard: would it be too small-minded in the face of such a great design to point out that it seems to fail at its only verifiable point of contact with the fossil proof? Few paleontologists can detect a general tendency in the history of life, not to mention a tendency of increasing intellectuality. The majority of life consists of insects, bacteria, mites, and with this one cannot assume with the best will in the world that there is a sign of increasing intellectuality. Gould: Evolution is a complex proliferating bush and not a bundle of parallel branches. Teilhard used the term evolution in a metaphysical sense to identify the laws of cosmic progress and not in our common sense to describe the mechanisms of organic change (which Teilhard calls "transformism"). GouldVsTeilhard: his technical works are sound and well-founded, but they deal with "transformism" and exist in a world that is clearly separated from his anthropocentric vision of a "cosmic evolution". Perhaps the problem with all these zoo-centred and anthropocentric systems is that they want to construct overly comprehensive systems. Gould: Our position in the world is complex and simply too ambiguous. (...) One cannot draw a wooden fence around the human being in evolution, nor can one construct a complete continuity. We are just a tiny twig on a tree that we share with at least one million other animal species, but we have thoroughly altered the surface of the planet. >Evolution, >Anthropocentrism, >Anthropomorphism, cf. >Anthropic principle._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. "Vs" indicates differences in content, not necessarily the chronological progression of a controversy. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Teilhard I Pierre Teilhard de Chardin The Phenomenon of Man New York 1976 Gould I Stephen Jay Gould The Panda’s Thumb. More Reflections in Natural History, New York 1980 German Edition: Der Daumen des Panda Frankfurt 2009 Gould II Stephen Jay Gould Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes. Further Reflections in Natural History, New York 1983 German Edition: Wie das Zebra zu seinen Streifen kommt Frankfurt 1991 Gould III Stephen Jay Gould Full House. The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin, New York 1996 German Edition: Illusion Fortschritt Frankfurt 2004 Gould IV Stephen Jay Gould The Flamingo’s Smile. Reflections in Natural History, New York 1985 German Edition: Das Lächeln des Flamingos Basel 1989 |
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> Counter arguments against Teilhard de Chardin
> Counter arguments in relation to Humans
