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1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2022

Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Cruz
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Summary

As humans, we have a graspable identity that has been shaped by our individual and collective attempts to seek answers to fundamental questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Where and to whom do I belong, and how can I help myself and others? The persistence of such questions may signal the insatiability of our human curiosity, but they also offer evidence of our possibly endless search for substantive, finite meaning. We yearn to identify who we are and to be part of something greater than our own limited individuality. This desire leads people to draw strong, even vicious, us-versus-them boundaries in political and social life. But it is also a spiritual wish to connect to all of humanity, indeed to all of life and the cosmos, and to take benevolent action accordingly (Figure 1.1, chapter opener). Even when answers to our questions about identity prove inconclusive, changeable, or otherwise unsatisfying, our search continues apace.

Type
Chapter
Information
Our Genes
A Philosophical Perspective on Human Evolutionary Genomics
, pp. 1 - 17
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Introduction
  • Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Book: Our Genes
  • Online publication: 14 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316756324.002
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  • Introduction
  • Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Book: Our Genes
  • Online publication: 14 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316756324.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Book: Our Genes
  • Online publication: 14 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316756324.002
Available formats
×