PO Box 440140 Aurora CO 80014-0140
Title: Interpreting Man
Author: Dennis M. Weiss, ed.
Series: Critical Studies in the Humanities
Imprint: The Davies Group, Publishers
soft cover
220 pp.
USD 20.00
ISBN 978-1888570663
2002
Are human beings little more than complicated animals? Are we defined by our biology? What role does culture play in shaping us? Can
science account for the whole of our nature? These perennial philosophical questions are being raised with new urgency in recent provocative debates that include
mapping the human genome, cloning, nature/nurture, animal rights, robotics, and the merits of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology.
In order to address these questions, Interpreting Man brings together, for the first time, substantial selections devoted to a critical examination of what it means to
be human, from the works of an international group of philosophers and social theorists. The essays comprising this collection, many of which have been out-of-
print and no longer widely available, offer thought-provoking insights into human nature, and provide a framework for understanding issues that go to the heart of
contemporary philosophical, scientific and humanistic studies. Focusing on themes such as laughing and crying, the upright posture, the nature of culture and
symbolism, and social and interpersonal relations, they represent some of the finest contemporary perspectives on human nature and are an essential resource
for anyone with a strong interest in philosophy, women’s studies, anthropology, sociology and psychology.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface—Douglas Browning
Dennis Weiss, The Anthropological Task
Max Scheler, Man’s Place in Nature
Arnold Gehlen, Man: His Place and Nature
Ernst Cassirer, The Symbolic Animal
Helmuth Plessner, Laughing and Crying
Michael Landmann, The System of Anthropina
Martin Buber, Elements of the Interhuman
José Ortega y Gasset, The Self and the Other
Erwin Straus, The Upright Posture
About the author
Dennis M. Weiss is Associate Professor of Philosophy at York College of Pennsylvania. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Emory University and a Ph.D. in
Philosophy from The University of Texas at Austin. His published works are in the area of philosophical anthropology, philosophy of technology, and the
emerging cyberculture.