species – On the Human http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human a project of the National Humanities Center Thu, 14 Sep 2017 16:39:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Loaves, Fishes, and the Human Side of Ecosystems http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/10/human-side-of-ecosystems/ http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/10/human-side-of-ecosystems/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:20:57 +0000 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/?p=2862

Professor Les Kaufman

Slow news days send hungry journalists back to the old springheads of mystery and metamorphosis: dark matter, how the brain really works, human cyborgs, life on other worlds. The nature of humanity’s relationship with Nature — the oldest campfire subject on the books, and kissing cousin to the meaning of life —

Continue reading Loaves, Fishes, and the Human Side of Ecosystems

]]> http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/10/human-side-of-ecosystems/feed/ 9 Animal In Mind: People, Cattle and Shared Nature on the African Savannah http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/10/animal-in-mind/ http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/10/animal-in-mind/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:25:05 +0000 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/?p=2841

Professor Vigdis Broch-Due

It is a commonplace that East African pastoralists like Turkana of Northern Kenya identify themselves with their animals. However it really goes far beyond that. To grasp not just the emotional intensity of Turkana bonds with their cattle but the ways in which their life projects are intertwined, is to feel the

Continue reading Animal In Mind: People, Cattle and Shared Nature on the African Savannah

]]> http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/10/animal-in-mind/feed/ 9 Enhancing Moral Status? http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/05/enhancing-moral-status/ http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/05/enhancing-moral-status/#comments Mon, 23 May 2011 16:47:52 +0000 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/?p=2436 robust human enhancement—i.e. creation of people with highly augmented or highly novel capacities through technological modification of (or integration with) their biological systems. Robust human enhancement raises justice, equity and access issues; parental rights and child welfare issues; naturalness and species boundary issues; individual and social benefit and risk issues; personal choice and liberty issues; and public policy issues related to regulation and research funding.

Continue reading Enhancing Moral Status?

]]> http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/05/enhancing-moral-status/feed/ 6 The Nature and Culture of Birds http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/03/nature-and-culture-of-birds/ http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/03/nature-and-culture-of-birds/#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:10:03 +0000 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/?p=2081 Continue reading The Nature and Culture of Birds

]]> http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2011/03/nature-and-culture-of-birds/feed/ 9 A Trans-Species Perspective on Nature http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/11/trans-species-perspective/ http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/11/trans-species-perspective/#comments Sat, 27 Nov 2010 19:47:24 +0000 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/?p=1782 Continue reading A Trans-Species Perspective on Nature

]]> http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/11/trans-species-perspective/feed/ 12 The Meat Eaters http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/09/the-meat-eaters/ http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/09/the-meat-eaters/#comments Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:26:15 +0000 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/?p=1414 Viewed from a distance, the natural world often presents a vista of sublime, majestic placidity. Yet beneath the foliage and hidden from the distant eye, a vast, unceasing slaughter rages. Wherever there is animal life, predators are stalking, chasing, capturing, killing, and devouring their

Continue reading The Meat Eaters

]]> http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/09/the-meat-eaters/feed/ 68 Common Ancestry and Natural Selection in Darwin’s Origin http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/06/common-ancestry-and-natural-selection-in-darwin%e2%80%99s-origin/ http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/06/common-ancestry-and-natural-selection-in-darwin%e2%80%99s-origin/#comments Sun, 06 Jun 2010 16:13:24 +0000 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/?p=1104 This is a précis of an argument that I developed in an article called “Did Darwin Write the Origin Backwards?” The article was published in 2009 and may be found on my web set at http://philosophy.wisc.edu/sober/recent.html. An expanded version of the argument is the first chapter of a book that I’m publishing at the end

Continue reading Common Ancestry and Natural Selection in Darwin’s Origin

]]> http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/06/common-ancestry-and-natural-selection-in-darwin%e2%80%99s-origin/feed/ 13 The Challenge of Comparisons in Primatology http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/02/the-challenge-of-comparisons-in-primatology/ http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/02/the-challenge-of-comparisons-in-primatology/#comments Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:34:20 +0000 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/?p=949 I have been studying the same group of monkeys, known as northern muriquis, in a small forest in southeastern Brazil for nearly 28 years. When I began my research they were called Brachyteles arachnoides. Subsequently, and within the lifetimes of many of the individuals in my original study group, they were reclassified as a new

Continue reading The Challenge of Comparisons in Primatology

]]> http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/02/the-challenge-of-comparisons-in-primatology/feed/ 9