One Key Aspect?

The philosophical study of man has passed through four distinct phases. In the first, during the time of the ancient Greeks, the overriding concern was with metaphysics, that which is above and beyond the physical world. Thinkers in this period wanted to comprehend where man came from. In the second phase, the focus shifted to epistemology, the study of how human beings know what they know. In the third, history became the chief concern as philosophers sought to define how man relates to society. Finally, in the fourth phase (the twentieth century), anthropology became the dominant pursuit. This question took center stage: “What does it mean for us to exist as ‘human beings’?” However, nothing resembling consensus has been reached on this issue. As Dr. G.C. Berkouwer, Dr. R.C. Sproul’s graduate school professor, once commented, “Man’s reflection upon the nature of man has produced an astonishing variety of views.” Recent thinkers have attempted to define man in terms of the following.

Biology or zoology

Some have simply classified man as a variety of primate. Desmond Morris did so famously in his book The Naked Ape, asserting that man is distinguished from other primates primarily by his lack of fur. In this evaluation he was following in the footsteps of Plato, who once classified man as a “featherless biped.”

Some activity

Karl Marx called man homo faber, or “man the maker.” He said man’s propensity to make tools to increase his production is his defining aspect.

His choices

Modern existentialists say man is homo volens, which points to man’s ability to choose. Friedrich Nietzsche’s “superman” is one who rejects the “herd morality” and lives by his own choices.

Sexuality

Sigmund Freud believed that man’s sexual impulses underlie and drive all the choices he makes.

Religiosity

Man has been called homo religious, meaning that he is incurably religious. In this evaluation, man’s seemingly universal drive to worship something, anything, is his defining trait.

All of these definitions contain some truth. But no human being is one-dimensional. All of the above aspects of human nature, and many others besides, are present in every human being, so any effort to define the race in terms of one aspect is doomed to failure.