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What is Man? Thesis, Antithesis, Solution
Thesis (Arnold Gehlen, Anthropologist):
Man is a „biologically unadapted being". Due to his instincts he is unable to live in a purely natural environment. In contrast to animals, which are born into an environment corresponding to them, he first has to create an environment in which he can live, through his mental and physical activity.
Antithesis (Konrad Lorenz, Bhavioural researcher):
According to the laws of evolution the emergeance of a „biologically unadapted being" is hardly possible. According to this law it is always the being which is adapted to its environment which survives, and not that which is unadapted to it.
Solution to the dichotomy (Autor):
Man or ancestor emerged according to the laws of evolution through mutation and selection as a biologically adapted being, in his inherited instincts, his physical construction and physical functions, according to the environment approximately 2 000 000 years ago, probably in Africa. Through changes in the natural environment which were disadvantageous to him, caused by climatic changes prior to and during the ice age, Man developed into an unadapted biological being, since an adaptation of his body and his instincts did not take place as a result of the environmental changes.*)
Only as a result of mental and physical activity, applied against the original condition, was he able to create an alternative environment, which enabled him to live, to a greater or lesser extent, in accordance with his genetic code.
Conclusions:
- Man was and is active, in order to achieve a balance between himself and his environment.
- Human development was not, as is generally assumed, the result of freedom, but rather of necessity (without work, our society can hardly be imagined).
- As a rule, Man wanted to live, in all times, soley according to his genetic code. Our society is the necessary result, it was, however, not the aim or intention (society today -worldwide- with all ist problems, is surely not that which Man would have wished it to be). The generator, or necessity of progress, was in each culture the increase in population, in so far at it was connected with a limit to the possibility for migration. The growth in population is to be seen as a result of the changes in life-style from the original one.
*) Beginning of the Ice Age approx. 1 000 000 years ago; end approx
10 000 years ago.
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