The stone is what it is. The lion is what he eats. And the man? He is who he thinks he is. If a person sees himself as a thunderstorm of neurons in the body of a monkey, then his coarsening is not far off, which is what we are seeing today. If, on the other hand, he sees himself as a spiritual, free being, then something can happen to him again.
That is, in a nutshell, the quintessence of the new thoughts of the young star philosopher Marcus Gabriel on the human condition (can be read in his very readable book “Der Mensch als Tier”). En passant, Gabriel disappoints the many confidences that have become expensive in regards to people, the environment and nature. A selection of fresh ideas:
1
If a person defines himself as an animal + X (where X = mind, i.e. man = animal + mind), then this is completely unreasonable. Because the definition leads not only to the animalization of man, but also to the false humanization of some animals.
2
This is precisely what mainstream zooethics suffers from: a person ennobles animals, such as monkeys, dogs or cows, in which, in his opinion, he sees a caricature of himself (humanoid animal = man – mind). On the other hand, he does not even consider other animals such as fish or insects to be animals and exterminates them with a clear conscience.
3
Plants are even more distant from humans, but how does a broccoli-eating vegan know that they cause less pain to cabbages than to insects?
four
Fashionable talk about the Anthropocene, the “earth age of man,” is the only pride: man does not have a special geological position on planet Earth. All traces of him will one day be erased and disappear.
five
The destruction of the environment by man is not a problem for nature, as many environmentalists believe, but simply for the survival of mankind. Nature still lives – until at some point the sun explodes.
6
Unfortunately, for a person there is no return to nature – it is merciless and a person is deeply alien to it. Fantasies of ecological fusion are as irrelevant as human megalomania.
7
The more a person examines himself scientifically, the more mysterious he becomes at the same time. A person can never fully understand himself, and this hurts him.
8th
As knowledge grows, so does the pain of not knowing. One must learn to live with it. We need an ethic of humility.
Stark, Marcus Gabriel.
Rene Shaw
Source: Blick
I am David Miller, a highly experienced news reporter and author for 24 Instant News. I specialize in opinion pieces and have written extensively on current events, politics, social issues, and more. My writing has been featured in major publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and BBC News. I strive to be fair-minded while also producing thought-provoking content that encourages readers to engage with the topics I discuss.
