Introduction: What does it mean to be human?

What does it mean to be human?

This is a big question and one that can only be answered by exploring various facets of human existence. For as long as human beings have roamed the earth, walked out of The Cave, made fire, and wandered beyond the horizon, we have wondered what it means to be human. We have questioned our existence and purpose on this planet as well as what happens once our time walking this ground has come to an end. It’s natural to ask these questions. It’s natural to ponder the role of consciousness in our lives.

In this textbook we’ll explore the themes What do we value? What do we belong to? What do we love? and What do we create? in an attempt to answer this big question. Throughout our lives, we make choices. We make choices about what things are important to us. We make choices about people who are important to us. We wonder how we should spend our time and balance that sense of wanting a higher purpose in life with the day-to-day pressures and realities we have to negotiate to make our lives comfortable while we are in this world. We wonder what happens when we die. We don’t know if there is an afterlife or, if when our body ceases to function our consciousness also ceases to function and we are left with only the legacy we made while here on earth.

To consider these questions is to contemplate the meaning of humanity. To seek answers to these questions is to come closer to recognizing what is common in humanity. The arts: visual art, literature, poetry, music, and theater as well as philosophy and history are all artifacts of culture that reflect our shared humanity. In this course, we will investigate what it means to be human by examining a variety of cultural artifacts and discovering what they have to tell us about the human experience. Finally, we’ll ponder the future of human existence – what will humanity look like as we continue to evolve, adapt, and accept technology as a growing part of the future human landscape?

Let’s get started!

A note about this content:

This text is a combination of sources that are available in the public domain and which are available freely online.  All authors are acknowledged as well as the sources of their texts and where they are made available for the public. The editors of this text claim no copyright over these texts and provide them here under the guidelines of fair use.  The purpose of this pressbook is educational, non-commercial, and the materials herein are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course and may not be retained or further disseminated.

Editors:

This text has been arranged for Humanities 101 at Howard Community College by Dr. Ryna May and Professor Marie Westhaver.