Philosophical Views on Human Beings: From Evolution to Nihilism

Posted on Aug 19, 2024 in Philosophy and ethics

Philosophical Views on Human Being

1. Theories on Evolution (Main Contributions)

  1. Mutability: Some characteristics are genetically inherited and change in a very slow evolutionary process.
  2. Overpopulation: In order to survive, a species gives birth to more offspring than needed.
  3. Life Struggle: There is struggle between different species in order to survive.
  4. Natural Selection: Those species able to adapt to the environment survive. In this process, physical and intellectual characteristics are modified.

Basque People Origin: Jose Miguel Barandiaran (Ataun)

(1889-1991) PhD by University of Madrid (Complutense)

  • One of the best anthropologists in the world.
  • Clergyman but believed in the process of human evolution.
  • 200,000 years ago the Homo Sapiens was created in Africa. They spread all over the world looking for warm places in good condition. About 50,000 years ago this Homo Sapiens came into Europe and found that the Cantabric side was the best place to live (hunting, fruits, good soils for agriculture, mountains that protected them from invasions).

According to Barandiaran, these are the main characteristics of these Cro-Magnon:

  1. They were a very advanced, developed, intelligent, and brave civilization.
  2. They were very good hunters, farmers, and craftsmen (harrespilak, dolmenak, triku-harriak, etc…)
  3. They created leather, stone, and bone tools.
  4. They had a developed culture (mythology, rituals, beliefs, traditions, etc…) and a linguistic code (ur, sua, harri, etc…)

2. Descartes

René Descartes was born in France in the 17th century. He was a highly intelligent person. He received an excellent education, and philosophy was his passion. Descartes challenged the Christian monopoly on thought. He argued that the Christian Church did not have the ability or any interest in describing reality. Christianity worried about matters concerning God and faith, whereas philosophy focused on the scientific knowledge of the objective world.

Main works:

  • Discourse on the Method
  • Meditations

Descartes laid the foundations for modern rational thought:

  1. A person’s main resource for knowledge is his/her ability to reason (understanding, mind, or intellect). The best procedure to gain knowledge is through human being’s reasoning ability.
  2. Reason interprets all the information gathered by observation, so the cognitive ability to reason is of a higher level than observation alone (This is what makes us different from animals).
  3. Any theory can be questioned. There’s no definite truth; philosophy is not dogmatic.
  4. All scientific knowledge and investigation need to be closely planned:
    1. Observe reality.
    2. Reason about this reality.
    3. Make hypotheses.
    4. Demonstrate these hypotheses.

According to Descartes, both philosophical and scientific truths must be clear and certain, logical, and evident for our understanding. All theories must be provable.

I think, therefore I exist.

3. Cultural Diversity

Culture gives us a feeling of belonging to a community. Culture is our identity (sharing the same language, traditions, habits, history, etc.)

1. Ethnocentrism

Judging other cultures according to our own cultural characteristics.

Main consequences: it shows the inability to understand other cultures, and on the other hand, there is a stronger feeling of cohesion with the members of the same culture.

Some ethnocentrists feel xenophobia (hate for foreigners), racism, chauvinism, but most of them feel aporophobia (fear of poverty).

2. Culture-Relativity

Those who support culture-relativity believe each culture must be analyzed according to its values and never according to other cultures’ values. We must be tolerant of all different cultures, but it does not encourage dialogue and interculturality.

  • Racism: Some people believe the best way to preserve the characteristics of a culture is by preventing different cultures from living together. This way we avoid immigration.

3. Interculturality

Its principle is respect for other cultures, and it claims equality-based relationships between different cultures.

Main objectives:

  • Accepting our world and society as plural.
  • Encouraging dialogue between different cultures.
  • Working together to find solutions to the problems in the world.

Dialogue Between Different Cultures

  • Respecting human rights.

4. Arthur Schopenhauer: Incurable Nihilism

Schopenhauer is one of the founders of contemporary irrationalism.

Nihilism: Existence Lack of Meaning

For Schopenhauer, life and existence had no meaning, no logic. The humiliation, torment, cruelty, marginalization, and disgraces we suffer have no meaning. As we must undergo undeserved punishment and offense, he believes the world, life, and people are irrational. Suffering is real (happiness is not as real), and this has no logic; murder is real and has no logic.

Western Christian civilization reasoning is based on morals and the hope of salvation (resurrection). For Schopenhauer, there is no greater farce, lie, manipulation, and hypocrisy. Christian civilization has been the greatest perpetrator of butchery, violence, hatred, and destruction. Christianity is the evil school of thought that preaches love and practices hatred.

Ethics of Resignation

The greater the desire, the bigger the disappointment. Schopenhauer proposes the ethics of resignation. He believes the best way to avoid false hopes is to avoid having any will or desire. There is no bright future. Do not believe, follow, applaud, or judge the lies Western civilization has imposed: religion, politics, patriotism, the economy, armies, culture…

Loving relationships, friends, and artistic creation can only give us means of healing our wounds.