On human nature

Gernot Böhme

pp. 3-14

in: Armin Grünwald, Mathias Gutmann, Eva Neumann-Held (eds), On human nature, Berlin, Springer, 2002

Abstract

Nature has a double meaning both in everyday language and in philosophical terminology. When, for instance, one speaks of the nature of the matter, one means that which makes the matter in question into what it is, its essence. On the other hand, if one says that animals, plants, mountains are a part of nature, then one classes them with a realm of being that is there of its own doing, not made by humans. Also with regard to human beings, one can speak of nature in this double sense. The "nature of the human being" can refer to his or her essence, that which makes him or her a human being. But one can also speak of the nature of the human being in the sense that, by reason of his or her corporeality or embodiment [Leiblichkeit], he or she is a part of the realm of being to which animals, plants, and mountains are also assigned. It is only in this latter sense that human nature is the topic of this article — even though at the same time, however, the question arises as to whether being natural [Natursein] is a part of the human being's essence.