philosophical anthropology

is concerned with the uniquely human dynamic of distancing and relating to the world, to the self, and to God in order to be able to enter into a unique relationship with a unique other.

speaks to the human dynamic of distancing and relating in order to be able to enter into a unique relationship with a unique other.

is incoherent because it wrongheadedly takes its start in, and presupposes the existing world or a world that could be in being.

For it is immediately clear that any doctrine at all of human being, whether empirical or apriori, presupposes the existing world or a world that could be in being. A philosophy that takes its start from human existence falls back into that naivete the overcoming of which has, in our opinion, been the whole meaning of modernity. Once this naivete has finally been unmasked for what it is, once the genuine transcendental problem has been arrived at in its apodictic necessity, there can be no going back. (Husserl 1931: 10)

is oxymoron on account of the fact that one cannot take its start from human existence because human existence falls into 'naivete'.

is the study of the structures of the human being not as a set of psychological (i.e. Physiological) processes but as a spritual being.

Dilthey had still another description of this science, which shows more clearly what was at issue for him: anthropology. He was not seeking to observe psychological processes side by side with physiological ones... rather, his theme was the human being as a spiritual being, and it was the structures of this being that he wanted to research. This also is the meaning of the definition: empirical psychology. (heidegger 'struggle' : 156)

is the failed attempt to encompass the results of all the sciences that consider human beings; failed because it cannot explain why all central philosophical problems are to be traced to the human being. No age knows as much about human beings as the present, but no age knows as little about what a human being is.

Philosophical anthropology (“Descartes’ supreme triumph”) attempts to encompass the results of all the sciences that consider human beings. Not only is it impossible to survey the empirical results of all these disciplines, but their approaches are fundamentally diverse. As a result, anthropology becomes so all-encompassing that it is utterly indeterminate. The inherent limitation of philosophical anthropology consists in its failure to explain why all central philosophical problems are to be traced to the human being. No age knows as much about human beings as the present, but no age knows as little about what a human being is (3: 208–14; 5: 99f; 31: 122).

philosophical anthropology, n.Definitions

philosophical anthropology