Humankind and Humanity in the Philosophy of the Enlightenment - From Locke to Kant

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, Celine Spector, Jacqueline Taylor, and Gunter Zoller, this book offers a novel interpretation of the Enlightenment that is both clear in focus and impressive in scope.>

Product details

• Authors: Stefanie Buchenau, Ansgar Lyssy
• Assisted by: Stefanie Buchenau (Editor), Ansgar Lyssy (Editor)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.03.2025
• EAN: 9781350384750
• ISBN: 978-1-350-38475-0
• No. of pages: 280
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 232 mm x 10 mm
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / History & Surveys / Modern, PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, PHILOSOPHY / Movements / Humanism, Ethics & moral philosophy, Ethics and moral philosophy, Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900, Western philosophy: Enlightenment