Help with defenition of "human condition"?
September 9, 2011 12:40 PM Subscribe
I am researching term "human condition". Can the members suggest any good books or research on the subject?
I have searched the term and got a lot of hits and of course I read the wikipedia article. All of those seem to be too vague and end up with a statement of sorts "life is life" which does not bring much of insight beyond being a placeholder for everything.
Can the members suggest books on the subject?
Ideas on how I can approach the structuring my research to distill the definition?
I have searched the term and got a lot of hits and of course I read the wikipedia article. All of those seem to be too vague and end up with a statement of sorts "life is life" which does not bring much of insight beyond being a placeholder for everything.
Can the members suggest books on the subject?
Ideas on how I can approach the structuring my research to distill the definition?
Response by poster: thanks for this pointer - seems promissing althogh i am intrested more in phenomenology and less (if at all ) in philosophy
posted by avtodorov at 12:49 PM on September 9, 2011
posted by avtodorov at 12:49 PM on September 9, 2011
Response by poster: i do not want to go into the path of "philosophy is the mother of all knowledge"
i would like to stay within the realm of science
posted by avtodorov at 1:01 PM on September 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
i would like to stay within the realm of science
posted by avtodorov at 1:01 PM on September 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
(I think that valkyryn was referring to the fact that probably the most common use of the word phenomenology refers to something studied within the realm of philosophy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(philosophy). I suspect you meant phenomenology in the psychology or science sense, but it might help to give a little more detail about exactly what you are looking for?)
posted by brainmouse at 1:15 PM on September 9, 2011
posted by brainmouse at 1:15 PM on September 9, 2011
That's such a broad topic, any specific research interests would help us recommend books. When you speak of the human condition, it's difficult to avoid philosophy.
posted by perhapses at 1:18 PM on September 9, 2011
posted by perhapses at 1:18 PM on September 9, 2011
But for starters, I'll recommend Straw Dogs by John Gray.
posted by perhapses at 1:23 PM on September 9, 2011
posted by perhapses at 1:23 PM on September 9, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks to everyone for suggestions so far
indeed i am interested in phenomenology as it appears in science as in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(science)
but at theis moment i am trying to distill the kind of discourse that is in the mainstream
i want to understand what is the furst thing that pops up in the head of an educated person when he hears "human condition"
yes the philosophy is unavoidable and "human consdition" is the subject of all art, literature, etc.
my main concern is to try and get to a definition that is _shared_ by those who care to think about the term
posted by avtodorov at 1:31 PM on September 9, 2011
indeed i am interested in phenomenology as it appears in science as in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(science)
but at theis moment i am trying to distill the kind of discourse that is in the mainstream
i want to understand what is the furst thing that pops up in the head of an educated person when he hears "human condition"
yes the philosophy is unavoidable and "human consdition" is the subject of all art, literature, etc.
my main concern is to try and get to a definition that is _shared_ by those who care to think about the term
posted by avtodorov at 1:31 PM on September 9, 2011
Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition is her best work, thoughtful and accessible. Definitely worth reading.
posted by judith at 2:19 PM on September 9, 2011
posted by judith at 2:19 PM on September 9, 2011
Is that not like saying, 'I want to know what an educated person thinks the meaning of life is. Scientists, not philosophers though'?
The way you describe it sounds like a sort of sociology/anthropology project - is that the intent, or, I mean... what really are you trying to get at here? You say a definition shared by those who care to think about it, but don't we all think about it, on some level?
You want to ignore what it is and just get at what people think it is, but which people and why?
posted by crayz at 3:04 PM on September 9, 2011
The way you describe it sounds like a sort of sociology/anthropology project - is that the intent, or, I mean... what really are you trying to get at here? You say a definition shared by those who care to think about it, but don't we all think about it, on some level?
You want to ignore what it is and just get at what people think it is, but which people and why?
posted by crayz at 3:04 PM on September 9, 2011
Response by poster: @crayz
no i do not what to ignore "what it is"
yes sociology/anthropology project
and yes the difficulty is that all have some sort of opinion on "what it is"
but not all opinions matter and shape the nature and course of human evolution
"meaning of life" is even broader than "human condition" and more philosophical - that is not my concern here
yes "scientists" would be the people i would want to engage but "scientists" only "scientists" in their labs when they step out of the lab they behave like laymen and do apply scientific method to "human condition"
hey there is no even an agreed upon definition of human condition" yet
i want to see what is the curent consensus and what kind of words are used for the definition and how it may lend itself to scientific method
my interests are along the lines of using methods of "hard sciences" and apply them to "soft sciences"
posted by avtodorov at 3:33 PM on September 9, 2011
no i do not what to ignore "what it is"
yes sociology/anthropology project
and yes the difficulty is that all have some sort of opinion on "what it is"
but not all opinions matter and shape the nature and course of human evolution
"meaning of life" is even broader than "human condition" and more philosophical - that is not my concern here
yes "scientists" would be the people i would want to engage but "scientists" only "scientists" in their labs when they step out of the lab they behave like laymen and do apply scientific method to "human condition"
hey there is no even an agreed upon definition of human condition" yet
i want to see what is the curent consensus and what kind of words are used for the definition and how it may lend itself to scientific method
my interests are along the lines of using methods of "hard sciences" and apply them to "soft sciences"
posted by avtodorov at 3:33 PM on September 9, 2011
Wikipedia does a good job, actually, on defining what the term "human condition" has come to mean, and how it is studied and known. If you think that definition is too "soft" and humanities oriented, that's your problem (I don't mean that in a combative sense) and not a problem with the definition. That definition is correct.
Whatever you're looking for in the hard sciences, you won't find it filed under "human condition."
You should probably schedule some time to talk to your prof about your vision for the assignment and ask for advice.
posted by jsturgill at 4:06 PM on September 9, 2011
Whatever you're looking for in the hard sciences, you won't find it filed under "human condition."
You should probably schedule some time to talk to your prof about your vision for the assignment and ask for advice.
posted by jsturgill at 4:06 PM on September 9, 2011
This question is either impossible to answer because there is no answer, or it's so arcane as to be above our pay grade. As jsturgill says, talk to your professor.
posted by John Cohen at 4:12 PM on September 9, 2011
posted by John Cohen at 4:12 PM on September 9, 2011
Response by poster: thanks a lot to all who suggested the ways to tackle my project
i appreciate it a lot
the book list so far is
1. Straw Dogs by John Grey
2. The Human condition by Hanna Arendt
3. Works by Dostoevsky (I assume Crime and Punishment, Idiot, Brothers Karamazov, etc.)
Anyone can add any books to this list?
posted by avtodorov at 4:36 PM on September 9, 2011
i appreciate it a lot
the book list so far is
1. Straw Dogs by John Grey
2. The Human condition by Hanna Arendt
3. Works by Dostoevsky (I assume Crime and Punishment, Idiot, Brothers Karamazov, etc.)
Anyone can add any books to this list?
posted by avtodorov at 4:36 PM on September 9, 2011
There is some failure of conception or communication, and because of it, you're not getting any help.
It seems like you were requesting sources about what "the human condition" is or is believed to be, but not sources from the humanities. All of those entries on the list you wrote out and are, apparently, satisfied with are either novels or works of philosophy. It doesn't get more "soft" than that!
So are you actually asking for a humanities centric (anthropology, sociology, literature, and philosophy) reading list centered around the concept of "the human condition?"
If so, please wait a week and repost your question without all the extraneous misdirection, and you'll have dozens of quality responses.
posted by jsturgill at 11:44 AM on September 10, 2011
It seems like you were requesting sources about what "the human condition" is or is believed to be, but not sources from the humanities. All of those entries on the list you wrote out and are, apparently, satisfied with are either novels or works of philosophy. It doesn't get more "soft" than that!
So are you actually asking for a humanities centric (anthropology, sociology, literature, and philosophy) reading list centered around the concept of "the human condition?"
If so, please wait a week and repost your question without all the extraneous misdirection, and you'll have dozens of quality responses.
posted by jsturgill at 11:44 AM on September 10, 2011
Response by poster: @jsturgill
you got it right - i am interested in "hard" definition but it seems to me that it simply does not exist or at least members of metafilter are not aware of it
since i could not get the "best" i decided to settle on whatever i can get - that is the list of books people can recommend based on their definition of "human condition" regardless of whether it is "soft" or "hard"
but it looks like the attention has moved to other things :)
posted by avtodorov at 2:00 PM on September 10, 2011
you got it right - i am interested in "hard" definition but it seems to me that it simply does not exist or at least members of metafilter are not aware of it
since i could not get the "best" i decided to settle on whatever i can get - that is the list of books people can recommend based on their definition of "human condition" regardless of whether it is "soft" or "hard"
but it looks like the attention has moved to other things :)
posted by avtodorov at 2:00 PM on September 10, 2011
or at least members of metafilter are not aware of it
It's not necessarily that we aren't aware of examples of what you're looking for; we had a lot of trouble just understanding what you're looking for.
posted by John Cohen at 3:05 PM on September 11, 2011
It's not necessarily that we aren't aware of examples of what you're looking for; we had a lot of trouble just understanding what you're looking for.
posted by John Cohen at 3:05 PM on September 11, 2011
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posted by goethean at 12:43 PM on September 9, 2011