What is Humanity?

Philosophy has always been concerned with exploring fundamental questions about the nature of humanity, questions that still preoccupy us today and inform many of the other disciplines studied at university. This first year course aims to introduce students to philosophical reflection on questions (a) to do with ‘humanity’ in the sense of an ethical aspiration proper to human existence and the meaning and potential inherent in human life, and (b) how we can hold ‘humanity’ to be metaphysically unique, both as a civilizational achievement and as opposed to entities such as non-human animals or machines. Being human implies that we can be ‘inhuman’, by violating a basic ethical code that defines us. What is the status of that code and how does it inform ideas about human rights? How is the ideal of humanity linked to claims about human privilege and difference? And can ideas about the high value of what is properly human effectively license violence against other beings deemed less important or valuable? In particular the course will focus on four overlapping topic areas: humanity and rights; humanity and animals; humanity and race; and humanity and gender. Alongside philosophy, works of film and literature will inform the discussion. The course treats philosophical questions as arising out of dense problem areas, often most effectively mapped in literary treatments. Beginning from skepticism that we know what humanity is, or what it is worth, the course probes three intersectional issues - gender, race and animality - that render the practice and grasp of our ‘humanity’ particularly complex and demanding.