The human condition encompasses all of the experience of being human. As mortal entities, there are a series of biologically determined events that are common to most human lives, and some that are inevitable for all. The ongoing way in which humans react to or cope with these events is the human condition. However, understanding the precise nature and scope of what is meant by the human condition is itself a philosophical problem. The human condition refers to the experience of existence and life as humans. ... Look up Experience in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This article discusses the general concept of experience. ... This article is about modern humans. ... For the song by Girls Aloud see Biology (song) Biology studies the variety of life (clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology (from Greek: Βιολογία - βίος, bio, life; and λόγος, logos, speech lit. ...

The term is also used in a metaphysical sense, to describe the joy, terror and other feelings or emotions associated with being and existence. Humans, to an apparently superlative degree amongst all living things, are aware of the passage of time, can remember the past and imagine the future, and are intimately aware of their own mortality. Only human beings are known to ask themselves questions relating to the purpose of life beyond the base need for survival, or the nature of existence beyond that which is empirically apparent: What is the meaning of existence? Why was I born? Why am I here? Where will I go when I die? The human struggle to find answers to these questions — and the very fact that we can conceive them and ask them — is what defines the human condition in this sense of the term. Plato (left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. ... In ontology, a being is anything that can be said to be, either transcendantly or immanently. ... For the philosophical movement, see Existentialism. ... Empirical or a posteriori knowledge is propositional knowledge obtained by experience or sensorial information. ... This article is about the concept of the meaning of life. ...

Although the term^[1] itself may have gained popular currency with The Human Condition, a film trilogy directed by Masaki Kobayashi^[2][3][4] which examined these and related concepts, the quest to understand the human condition dates back to the first attempts by humans to understand themselves and their place in the universe. Popular culture (or pop culture) is the widespread cultural elements in any given society that are perpetuated through that societys vernacular language or lingua franca. ... The Human Condition is a film trilogy by Japanese film director Masaki Kobayashi. ... Masaki Kobayashi (小林正樹 Kobayashi Masaki, February 14, 1916 – October 4, 1996) was a Japanese director who is probably best known for Kwaidan (怪談), a collection of four ghost stories (drawn from the book by Lafcadio Hearn), each of which has a surprise ending. ...

Study

The human condition is the subject of such fields of study as philosophy, theology, sociology, psychology, anthropology, demographics, cultural studies and sociobiology. The philosophical school of existentialism deals with the ongoing search for ultimate meaning in the human condition. For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Sociology (from Latin: socius, companion; and the suffix -ology, the study of, from Greek λόγος, lógos, knowledge [1]) is the scientific or systematic study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture[2]. Areas studied in sociology can range from the analysis of brief contacts between anonymous... {redirect|Psychological science|the journal|Psychological Science (journal)}} Not to be confused with Phycology. ... This article is about the social science. ... Demographics refers to selected population characteristics as used in government, marketing or opinion research, or the demographic profiles used in such research. ... Cultural studies is an academic discipline which combines political economy, communication, sociology, social theory, literary theory, media theory, film/video studies, cultural anthropology, philosophy, museum studies and art history/criticism to study cultural phenomena in various societies. ... This article or section includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement that posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives, as opposed to deities or authorities creating it for them. ...

In most developed countries, improvements in medicine, education, and public health have brought about quantitative, not necessarily qualitative, marked changes in the human condition over the last few hundred years, with increases in life expectancy and demography (see demographic transition). Probably one of the largest changes has been the availability of contraception, which has changed the sexual lives of human beings, especially women, and attitudes toward sexuality. Even then, these changes only alter the details of the human condition. In some of the poorest parts of the world, the human condition has changed little over the centuries. This article describes a type of political entity. ... For the chemical substances known as medicines, see medication. ... Public health is the study and practice of addressing threats to the health of a community. ... This article is about the measure of remaining life. ... Map of countries by population Population growth showing projections for later this century Demography is the statistical study of all populations. ... Demographic transition occurs in societies that transition from high birth rates and high death rates to low birth rates and low death rates as part of the economic development of a country from a pre-industrial to an industrialized economy. ... Birth control is the practice of preventing or reducing the probability of pregnancy without abstaining from sexual intercourse; the term is also sometimes used to include abortion, the ending of an unwanted pregnancy, or abstinence. ...

Negative usage of the term

This term is sometimes used with a cynical or derogatory air, to imply that the human condition is in general a wretched one or that it cannot be improved. The term is often also used in a cynical way to describe the themes of pieces of art when nothing else is apparent. This can be associated with the ubiquitous phrase "only human," as far as pertains to its implications of inferiority to an unspecified comparative source. This can also be compared to the phrase "mere mortals" in a more declamatory or melodramatic mode of speech. Negative views of the "human condition" also may arise out of cynicism towards human civilization. The far-reaching implications of that philosophical inclination, however, are beyond the scope of this article. See: Nihilism, Absurdism, Misanthropy, Anomie, Cynicism etc. Central New York City. ... This article is about the philosophical position. ... Absurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe will ultimately fail (and, hence, are absurd) because no such meaning exists, at least in relation to humanity. ... Misanthrope redirects here. ... Anomie, in contemporary English, means a condition or malaise in individuals, characterized by an absence or diminution of standards or values. ... This article is about the current understanding of the word cynicism. ...

Possibilities of change

Certain movements, most prominently transhumanism, aim to radically change the human condition. Some thinkers, like Enrico Fermi and others, deny that human nature has really changed in any fundamentally meaningful way over time and that, despite all of our social and scientific advances, human beings remain essentially unchanged and merely have been transplanted into progressively more complex environments. Transhumanist theorists agree; however, they argue that this is precisely the problem. In transhumanist thought, the human species clearly has come as far as it can usefully go in terms of biological evolution, and if we, as intelligent life forms, intend to keep progressing at what we consider to be a reasonable pace, we must dramatically alter the parameters of life, via emerging technologies. Opponents of transhumanism such as extreme neo-luddites, and moderate bioconservatives assert that human nature, as we currently know it, is sufficient for all intents and purposes, and therefore does not necessitate any upgrades. Posthuman Future, an illustration by Michael Gibbs for The Chronicle of Higher Educations look at how biotechnology will change the human experience, has become one of the secular icons representing transhumanism. ... Fermi redirects here. ... This article is about evolution in biology. ... Meliorism is the idea in metaphysical thinking that progress is a real concept leading to an improvement of the world. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Emerging technologies and converging technologies are terms used interchangeably to cover the emergence and convergence of new and potentially disruptive technologies such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, cognitive science, robotics, and artificial intelligence. ... The term Luddite is a political/historical term relating to a political movement during the Industrial Revolution; currently it is primarily used as a pejorative, describing those perceived as being uncompromisingly or unnecessarily opposed to technological innovations. ... Techno-progressivism, technoprogressivism, or tech-progressivism (a portmanteau word combining technology-focused and progressivism), is a stance of active support for technological development and social progress. ... Apologism is the metaphysical philosophy that argues that it is wrong for humans to attempt to alter the conditions of life in the mortal sphere of influence. ... Human enhancement describes any attempt, whether temporary or permanent, to overcome the current limitations of human cognitive and physical abilities, whether through natural or artificial means. ...

Many transhumanists hold a positive and embracing view of life itself, but see the existence of the human mind and its human body as a something of a cosmic tragedy, because every human being is consigned to death after a relatively short and delimited life, even while humans have the intellectual capacity to imagine a better world that is presently beyond their experience. The human condition, to the transhumanist, is an oppressive circumstance to be rationally overcome through the judicious application of science and technology.

Notes

1. ^ Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition ISBN 0226025985
2. ^ Ningen no joken I, the first installment the Human Condition trilogy by Masaki Kobayashi http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053114/
3. ^ Ningen no joken II, the second installment in the Human Condition trilogy by Masaki Kobayashi http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053115/
4. ^ Ningen no joken III, the third installment in the Human Condition trilogy by Masaki Kobayashi http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055233/

See also

• The Denial of Death
• Erik H. Erikson
• Existentialism
• Absurdism
• Hannah Arendt
• Human nature
• Human self-reflection
• Malaise
• Man's search for meaning
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs
• Ontology
• Rite of passage
• Seven ages of man
• Seven deadly sins
• Theory of everything (philosophy)
• Continuity thesis
• Jeremy Griffith