For centuries, thinkers from various philosophical schools, from Plato and Aristotle to Kant and Feuerbach, contributed to the construction of this philosophical system. However, the anthropological principle was not accepted by Marxist-oriented philosophers, since Marx himself built his system on the criticism of Feuerbach, who was convicted of excessive "naturalism" by him. The person’s personality, as we recall from the course of Isthmath, is determined by the sum of his relations in society, and nothing more.
The very concept of “philosophical anthropology” was proposed by Max Scheler in his work “Man and History” in 1926. He defined it as a fundamental science of human nature, including the biological, psychological, social and metaphysical aspects of human existence.
The desire to understand yourself
What does philosophical anthropology bring to human comprehension? In the twentieth century, a mass of empirical knowledge gained by individual scientific disciplines that study man has accumulated. The need has arisen for their generalization and structuring in the light of the problem of human existence.
This led to the emergence of philosophical anthropology, like a full-flowing river, taking its many tributaries into its channel and carrying to the ocean everything that has been collected and absorbed on its long journey.
As philosophical anthropology postulates , the nature of man is determined by his specific relationships with the environment in which he resides, including nature, society and space.
What drives a person?
According to Scheler, the interest of philosophy in man developed in leaps and bounds: the “anthropological” epochs gave way to less humanistic ones. But whatever the position of the person in a particular historical situation, his self-awareness continued to strive for expansion.
According to Buber, the problem of man becomes especially attractive in times of social instability. Philosophical anthropology seeks to explain the causes of the disorder and loneliness of man in the face of world cataclysms.
On the eve of World War II, Scheler defines a person as a contemplating creature, comprehending the world through an open heart. Plesner focuses on his “sentencing” to continuous self-improvement, and Gehlen develops the concept of a person’s desire to express himself through various aspects of culture.
Subject of philosophical anthropology
So, a person in the aggregate of all his relations with the world was determined by philosophical anthropology as a subject of research. But at the same time, she herself was still understood ambiguously. This blurring of semantic content persists in our time.
As P.S. notes Gurevich, there are three main variations in the interpretation of the concept of "philosophical anthropology." Each understanding is based on what philosophical anthropology brings to human comprehension. However, the emphasis is on different aspects: a separate area of philosophical knowledge, the actual philosophical direction and the specific method of cognition.
So what does philosophical anthropology bring to human comprehension?
The 21st century, with its forebodings, prophecies and ever-accelerating technological progress, pushes the scientific community to a more in-depth study of the human phenomenon. The forums of scientists are seriously discussing the possibility of supplementing traditional scientific methods of cognition with a variety of unscientific methods, be it art, religious-mystical insights, esoteric concepts or the study of the unconscious.
The idea of integrity, holisticity is what philosophical anthropology brings to human comprehension. Answers to difficult questions about a person’s ability to change himself and the world can be obtained by collecting all the experience accumulated by mankind about himself.
Look through time
In the days of Antiquity, knowledge was concentrated on nature and the cosmos; in the Middle Ages, man was already becoming an element of the construction of the world ordered by God. The Age of Enlightenment elevated the human mind to absolute, allowing it to feel itself as a knowing subject.
The advent of Darwin's theory directed thinking towards a deeper knowledge of human biology, and finally, in the twentieth century, all these efforts were transformed into a new discipline - philosophical anthropology.
How can one answer what philosophical anthropology brings to human comprehension? Its founder M. Scheler expressed himself on this subject not without humor: "Now a person no longer knows who he is, but he is informed about it."