“What is man?” – asked David in his Psalms thousands of years ago. It is striking that the relevance of this question has not decreased in the twentieth and twenty first centuries. Whether a man is only an animal or, maybe, he is just a complex combination of chemical compounds, or, maybe, he is much more than all this, some great creation? The desire to know the history of man’s origin is quite natural, as people have not always existed on the Earth. That is why, the problem of Creation and understanding of human nature is central problem of people of all ages. This question can be considered from different perspectives: from the standpoint of theology, religion, anthropology, philosophy and history.
Views and ideas on the origins of humanity
The origin of man is the subject of speculation since ancient times and led to the emergence of various myths in different people, who believed that the first humans were created by gods from stones, animals, etc. The ancient Greek thinkers had different views on the origin of man: some believed that man is eternal, second believed that he was born from marine sediments. With the spread of Christianity people accepted the idea that man was created and inspired by God.
Many people believed that a man is the most highly developed animal, “the top of the evolution” of the animal world, he is mortal, and his life has no higher meaning. Others believe that man is not the “top”, but only a very selfish animal who tends to pleasure and enjoyment. So, humans belong to the natural world, until the physical and chemical processes in their body depend on nature.
If we consider the philosophical approach, then we need first to say that in humans there is an element that is “above” the natural world. There are different views on this, as, for example, Greek philosophers said this element was mind, and Aristotle proposed a definition of man as a rational animal. (Stevenson 2004)