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Zusatztext Kant famously stated that “out of the crooked timber of humanity nothing entirely straight can be made.” But this certainly hasn’t prevented Stefanie Buchenau and Ansgar Lyssy from putting together an outstanding collection of new essays on Enlightenment views about the multiple and complex dimensions of humanity and humankind. Informationen zum Autor Stefanie Buchenau is Professor of German and European History of Ideas at the University Paris 8 Saint-Denis, France. Ansgar Lyssy currently holds a fixed-term position as a philosophy professor at the University of Leipzig, Germany. Klappentext What makes us human beings? Is it merely some corporeal aspect, or rather some specific mental capacity, language, or some form of moral agency or social life? Is there a gendered bias within the concept of humanity? How do human beings become more human, and can we somehow cease to be human? This volume provides some answers to these fundamental questions and more by charting the increased preoccupation of the European Enlightenment with the concepts of humankind and humanity. Chapters investigate the philosophical concerns of major figures across Western Europe, including Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau, Locke, Hume, Ferguson, Kant, Herder, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach and the Comte de Buffon. As these philosophers develop important descriptive and comparative approaches to the human species and moral and social ideals of humanity, they present a view of the Enlightenment project as a particular kind of humanism that is different from its Ancient and Renaissance predecessors. With contributions from a team of internationally recognized scholars, including Stephen Gaukroger, Michael Forster, Céline Spector, Jacqueline Taylor, and Günter Zöller, this book offers a novel interpretation of the Enlightenment that is both clear in focus and impressive in scope. Vorwort Explores the increasing preoccupation with the concepts of humankind and humanity during the European Enlightenment. Zusammenfassung What makes us human beings? Is it merely some corporeal aspect, or rather some specific mental capacity, language, or some form of moral agency or social life? Is there a gendered bias within the concept of humanity? How do human beings become more human, and can we somehow cease to be human? This volume provides some answers to these fundamental questions and more by charting the increased preoccupation of the European Enlightenment with the concepts of humankind and humanity. Chapters investigate the philosophical concerns of major figures across Western Europe, including Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau, Locke, Hume, Ferguson, Kant, Herder, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach and the Comte de Buffon. As these philosophers develop important descriptive and comparative approaches to the human species and moral and social ideals of humanity, they present a view of the Enlightenment project as a particular kind of humanism that is different from its Ancient and Renaissance predecessors. With contributions from a team of internationally recognized scholars, including Stephen Gaukroger, Michael Forster, Céline Spector, Jacqueline Taylor, and Günter Zöller, this book offers a novel interpretation of the Enlightenment that is both clear in focus and impressive in scope. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction, Stefanie Buchenau (University Paris 8 Saint-Denis, France) and Ansgar Lyssy (University of Leipzig, Germany) 1. The Presumptive Unity of Humankind in Locke's Essay, Philippe Hamou (Sorbonne University, France) 2. Human Nature in Montesquieu, Céline Spector ( (Sorbonne University, France) 3. The Image of the Human Being in the Comte de Buffon, Catherine Wilson (York University, UK) 4. Hume on Humanity and the Party of Humankind, Jacqueline Taylor (University of San Francisco, USA) 5. Humankind and Humanity in Did...
