Questioning Human Nature

So far, the twenty-first century has been characterized by terrible crises such as war, climate change, pandemics, migration, poverty, and hunger. Despite the astonishing development of the human forebrain, bringing with it extraordinary cognitive abilities, our emotional brain has not advanced, and it continues to impact human behaviors such as aggression and destructiveness. Humankind’s many scientific advances in all domains of life have not prevented wars and social inequality; as a race, we humans do not seem able to learn from our past experiences.

In this book, the authors explore various dimensions of human nature, describing the origins of the universe, the evolution of humankind, and the neuroscientific mechanisms that explain conscious and unconscious behavior. They present psychoanalytic views for understanding the significance of cultural heritage, identities, and traumatizing experiences such as migration, racism, and aggression and their transmission across generations, before going on to discuss contemporary societal challenges, including consumerism, artificial intelligence, and political science concepts related to defining democracy. The authors conclude with an inquiry into how the essential pillars of a just and humane society – dignity, respect, solidarity, and morality – can be preserved.