Mankind

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Mankind refers to the totality of all Humans, in narrower sense the entire World population, or in a more abstract sense the social unity of all people, for example in the case of presumed or actual common decisions or interests of all people.

Overview

Jinrui (人類)

Humanity refers to human as a kind that transcends the differences among individual human and Ethnic group, i.e., as a type of Q11665175 of human. This term encompasses both the aspect of “human as a biological species” and that of a communality which ought to be realized as a single kind.

Overview

Humanity refers to the concept of human as a kind that transcends the differences among individuals and Ethnic group, that is, as a type of Q11665175 of human.

Theories concerning humanity in Western thought have undergone various transformations and debates over time, with significant theories including, for example, the monogenic theory, the polygenic theory, and the concept of humanity.

Monogenic and Polygenic Theories

(Although the Q11346242 was a world of Christianity, in the Christian world the monogenic theory—which holds that all humanity are descendants of Adam—and the view of humans as bearing the image of God continued to hold persuasive power. However, as Europe entered the Age of Discovery and came into contact with people beyond its borders—with the accompanying influx of information—the question of how to regard those who appeared as “variants of human” or as race emerged as a major issue among Westerners. Regarding these issues, Buffon and many others adopted the monogenic theory, arguing that differences among human groups arose from differences in climate, diet, and customs, thereby asserting that humanity is a single species; in contrast, Voltaire argued for the polygenic theory. The conflict between the monogenic and polygenic theories persisted into the 19th century, and in 1859, Broca, who founded the Paris Anthropological Society, also addressed these issues—stating that the differences between races are greater than those between animal species.

Subsequently, concepts such as social Darwinism, which posited that “evolved races dominate primitive ones,” emerged, and such ideas came to be conveniently exploited by imperialism.

The Concept of Humanity and Communality

In European thought, distinctions such as that between citizen and barbarian, and between Christian and pagan, were fundamental; however, with the advent of the Age of Enlightenment, a concept of “humanity” emerged that transcended these discriminations, and the history of humanity began to be presented as a history of progress through the self-completion of human beings. In this context, the concept of humanity came to be strongly associated with a communality that was to be realized.

Humanity as a Biological Species

As a biological species, “humanity” is a collective term encompassing all entities included in the concept of human, whether they are extant species (those still living) or fossil species (those that exist only as fossils); however, there is considerable debate regarding the scope of this inclusion, and even fossil species other than Homo sapiens continue to be the subject of ongoing discussion. Common characteristics include the ability to Erect bipedalism, a reduction in the size of the canine tooth, and the regression of the tail, among others.

Related Topics

• Anthropology. Cultural Anthropology, Social Anthropology, Physical Anthropology.
• human nature.
• humanitarianism.
• Homo sapiens.
• philanthropy (a term derived from “to love” + “humanity”).
• humanism.
• humanism (Renaissance).
• person、human (a term focusing on relationship as used in the humanities and social sciences), human (in biology).
• human evolution.
• Spaceship Earth.
• cosmopolitanism, Q11424571, Earthling.
• humanoid.

External Links

• Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified (ja). Kotobank.

See also

• Cradle of Humankind (region where hominization occurred).
• Human history (from earliest fossil discoveries to the present).
• Human evolution Homo sapiens
• UNESCO World Heritage Heritage of Humanity
• Human rights (subjective rights to which everyone is equally entitled).
• Anthropocene (youngest epoch of earth history, the "age of mankind").
• World population (number of people on earth)