Neo-Humanism and Diminution of the Concept of the Human

Abstract

The argument of this study is that the horizon of the “human” concept in premodern eras underwent a gradual constriction in terms of content and meaning upon the emergence of modern thought; accordingly, such constriction and diminution are examined within the course of history. Therefore, the diminution of concept of the “human” is discussed, first, within the context of “modern secular humanism,” in the sense of the bereavement of the idea of complete being and completion (kamāl) in the wake of positioning the knowing (rational) subject into the center of being and thought. Second, the same discussion is offered in more detail with regard to the transformation of the knowing subject into the desiring/willing subject under the influence of the legitimizing effect of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis. According to this study, abovementioned diminution or constriction in the concept of the human has occurred over a course that led to the decentralization of the subject; nevertheless, it paved the way for a new human condition with no ground of legitimacy other than unconscious desires. Consequently, man has remained in the middle of a complete experience of nihilism in the sense of total disconnection from truth, in line with the reproduction of being and values arising pursuant to the culture of consumption and the image.

Keywords

• Modern secular humanism
• Neo-humanism
• libidinal
• psychoanalysis
• culture of consumption
• nihilism

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