What does it mean to be human? This is a fundamental question of our existence.
This question tends to arise in the face of a moral dilemma or existential crisis, or when trying to find oneself.
Moreover, it is usually followed by additional questions:
What makes us different from other species? What motivates us to do what we do? What makes us unique?
The answers are never easy. Even in this age of modernity and intellectual freedom, we cannot come close to any specific answers. For centuries, the world's philosophers have done their job to find them.
Yet the answers remain as varied and inconclusive as ever.
What does it really mean to be human?
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Read on to find out how 7 of the world's most famous philosophers answer this question.
Karl Marx
Karl Marx is famous for writing the "Communist Manifesto" with the philosopher and sociologist Friedrich Engels. He was one of the leading proponents of communism in 19th century Europe.
Although known for his socialism, he remains one of the most prominent contemporary philosophical thinkers. In addition to provoking a huge number of social movements during his time, he was able to shape world views on capitalism, politics, economics, sociology, and even philosophy.
What are his views on human nature?
Marx believed that human nature is extremely shaped by our history. He believed that the way we perceive things - morality, social order, satisfaction of needs - historically depends largely on our society.
Of course, his theory of human nature also suggests that human progress is being held back by capitalism, especially with regard to labor. As long as we objectify our ideas and satisfy our needs, labor expresses our human nature and also changes it.
David Hume
David Hume was an empiricist. He believed that all human ideas are rooted in sensory impressions. That is, even if we imagine a being that does not exist, your imagination still consists of things that you perceived in the real world.
Why is it important for a person?
According to Hume, in order to streamline these impressions, we use different mental processes, which are a fundamental part of human existence. These are similarities, contiguities in time or place, and cause and effect.
Hume also believes that there is our own perception of truth, each of us, no matter how different we are. When people seek the truth, they come at moments of realization. Small moments of realization lead to a feeling of happiness and satisfaction. Big moments of realization, on the other hand, really make us human.
For Hume, it is when we experience these important changes in consciousness that we can finally say with confidence what it means to be human.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Perhaps there is no other contemporary philosopher as enigmatic as Ludwig Wittgenstein. His philosophy can be flipped and you still find it authoritative and obscure.
His philosophy of humanity can be interpreted in different ways. But the essence is still compelling. Let's assimilate what he thinks from his only book, Treatise-Logical-Philosophical (1921).
For Wittgenstein, this means being human, this is our ability to think consciously. We are active, embodied speakers. Before we start communicating, we first need to communicate with something. We must create and distinguish between true and false thoughts about the world around us in order to be able to think about things - combinations of things.
These conscious combinations of thoughts are what Wittgenstein calls "states of affairs."
Hence:
To be human is to think - truth, falsehood - it doesn't matter.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche is another revolutionary philosopher. He is best known for his book Human, Too Human. A book for free minds."
Among other philosophers who write unpleasant and obscure ideologies, Nietzsche is witty, eloquent, and honest. And even poetic. He is a philosopher who carefully examines human nature, offering specific advice on how to deal with it.
What does he think about humanity and what does it mean?
For Nietzsche, our awareness gives meaning to humanity. We are capable of what he calls psychological observation, the ability to see things from an analytical point of view. At the same time, we, as humans, can control the narrative of our existence.
Plato
Didn't you really think we'd miss Plato on this list? After all, there is his Theory of Human Nature.
Plato believed in souls.
He believed that people have both an immaterial mind (soul) and a material body. That our souls exist before birth and after death. And it consists of: reason, desire (physical urge) and will (emotion, passion, spirit).
For Plato, the soul is the source of everything we feel - love, torment, anger, ambition, fear. And most of our mental conflicts as humans are caused by the fact that these aspects are not in harmony.
Plato also believed that human nature is social. At our core, we are not self-sufficient. We need others. We get satisfaction from our social interactions. In truth, we get meaning from our relationship.
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant is considered one of the most influential Western philosophers of all time. His ideologies were about religion, politics and eternal peace. Most importantly, he was a philosopher of human autonomy.
Kant believed that as humans we are determined and capable of knowledge and the ability to act in accordance with it, regardless of anyone, even religion or any divine intervention.
According to him, a person's perception of knowledge is "sensory states caused by physical objects and events outside the mind, and the activity of the mind to organize this data in terms …"
Hence, Kant believes that we interact with the world based on our perception. We are human because of our mind. Like other species, we do things, we act. But unlike them, we give reasons for our actions. And for Kant, this essentially means being human.
Like Plato, Thomas Aquinas was a dualist who believed that people have both a body and a soul.
But unlike Kant, who believed that our intellect gives us meaning, Aquinas believed the opposite. For him, we absorb knowledge through our meaning, and the intellect processes it later, and more gradually, through our human experience.
Aquinas believed that we are the only beings who can perceive both matter and spirit. We do not just exist in this world - we can interpret it, carefully investigate it, extract meaning from it and make decisions about it. It is our intellect that surpasses us from just being to acting with freedom, with unlimited imagination.
What do you think?
You don't need to be a philosopher to come to your own conclusions. What does it mean to you to be human? Is it compassion, empathy, logic, our consciousness?
In this world of technology, social media, and cutting-edge scientific discovery, it's important to keep asking this important question. Don't let all the noise distract you from your thoughts - why do we exist? What does this even mean? What can we bring to this wonderful existence?
