Open AccessContemporary Naturalism and Human Ontology
Author(s) -
Éric Charmetant
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
forum philosophicum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2353-7043
pISSN - 1426-1898
DOI - 10.35765/forphil.2011.1601.05
Subject(s) - naturalism , essentialism , ontology , relevance (law) , epistemology , ethology , property (philosophy) , cognitive science , cognition , cybernetics , psychology , philosophy , neuroscience , political science , biology , ecology , law
Contemporary naturalism, especially through ethology, neuroscience and cognitive science, challenges the traditional ontological points of reference for determining the specificity of human beings. After illustrating the full measure of this upheaval, I will show the inadequacy of a return to traditional essentialism and will then defend the relevance of a different type of essentialism: an approach to human specificity in terms of a homeostatic property cluster.