human

Two quotes I think are related to the posts on 'bloodless abstraction' and 'cultural relativism'. More later..

"The problem of what is man is always therefore the so-called problem of 'human nature' or that if so-called man in general'. It is thus an attempt to create a science of man (a philosophy) which starts from an initiallt 'unitary ' concept, from an abstraction in which everything that is 'human' can be contained. But is the 'human' a starting point or a point of arrival, as a concept and as a unitary fact? Or might not the whole attempt, in so far as it posits the human as a starting-point, be a 'theological' or 'metaphysical' residue?" (Gramsci)

'Assume man to be man and his relationship to the world to be a human one: then you can exchange love only for love, trust for trust.' (Marx)