Description
Book SynopsisHelmuth Plessner (1892-1985) was one of the founders of philosophical anthropology, and his book
The Stages of the Organic and Man, first published in 1928, has inspired generations of philosophers, biologists, social scientists, and humanities scholars. This volume offers the first substantial introduction to Plessner’s philosophical anthropology in English, not only setting it in context with such familiar figures as Bergson, Cassirer, and Merleau-Ponty, but also showing Plessner’s relevance to contemporary discussions in a wide variety of fields in the humanities and sciences.
Table of ContentsPART I ANTHROPOLOGY Joachim Fischer Philosophical Anthropology - a third way: between Darwinism and Foucaultism Hans-Peter Krüger The Nascence of Modern Man: Two Approaches to the Problem - Biological Evolutionary Theory and Philosophical Anthropology Karl-Siegbert Rehberg New Biology and Unchanged Old Questions: Recent Research and the 'Sonderstellungs'-hypotheses of the Philosophical Anthropology? Heike Delitz 'True' and 'false' Evolutionism. Bergson's critique of Spencer, Darwin & Co. and its relevance for Plessner (and us) Thomas Ebke Life, Concept and Subject: Plessner's vital turn in the light of Kant and Bergson Thomas Fröhlich Biophysical Remarks on Plessner's Term Positionality Jasper van Buuren Plessner and the Mathematical-Physical Perspective: The Prescientific Objectivity of the Human Body Martino Enrico Boccignone The Duty of Personal Identity: Authenticity and Irony PART II CULTURE Robert Mugerauer Bi-Directional Boundaries: Eccentric Life and Its Environments Jetske van Oosten The unbearable freedom of dwelling Huib Ernste Eccentric Positionality and Urban Space Kirsten Pols Strangely Familiar. The Debate on Multiculturalism and Plessner's Philosophical Anthropology Scott Davis Plessner and the Structural Study of Ancient China Veronika Magyar-Haas De-Masking as a Characteristic of Social Work? Bas Hengstmengel Helmuth Plessner as a Social Theorist - Role Playing in Legal Discourse Henrike Lerch Anthropology as a Foundation of Cultural Philosophy. The Connection of Human Nature and Culture by Helmuth Plessner and Ernst Cassirer Petran Kockelkoren The quest for the sources of the self, seen from the vantage-point of Plessner's material a priori PART III TECHNOLOGY Gesa Lindemann The Brain in the Vat as the Epistemic Object of Neurobiology Johannes Hätscher Switching 'On', Switching 'Off' - Does Neurosurgery in Parkinson's Disease Create Man-Machines? Oreste Tolone Plessner's Theory of Eccentricity: a Contribution to the Philosophy of Medicine Heleen J. Pott On Humor and 'Laughing' Rats: Plessner's Importance for Affective Neuroscience Mireille Hildebrandt Eccentric positionality as a precondition for the criminal liability of artificial life forms Janna van Grunsven The Body Exploited: Torture and the Destruction of Self Dierk Spreen Not Terminated: Cyborgized Men Still Remain Human Being Peter-Paul Verbeek The Limits of Man Jos de Mul Philosophical anthropology 2.0: Reading Plessner in the age of converging technologies
