Феррарис М. Человеческое, даже очень человеческое, но никогда не слишком человеческое

Abstract

<p>The present work is a translation from Italian of an article by Maurizio Ferraris devoted to the consideration of similarities and differences between the human being and all other biological species known. Following Kant, the philosopher pays special attention to the process of learning and cultural «drilling» thanks to which an originally exclusively biological human being, little different from any other mammalian baby, is transformed into a human in the full sense of the world. Ferraris emphasizes the important role of such qualities and abilities that, in his opinion, are inherent exclusively to man: the ability to create, technical art, imitation, repetition, memorization and the thirst for freedom of a special kind, the thirst for freedom of speech and expression, which we cannot find among animals and among machines. In attempting to answer the question about the ability of a machine, computer or artificial intelligence to overcome the barrier that does not allow us to talk about the existence of identity between a robot and a human being, the author comes to the following conclusion. The presence of external goals causes an insurmountable gap between human being and machine. Human beings, who are the result of the interweaving of nature and second nature (M. Ferraris offers an interpretation of the actual meaning of these concepts), are the only ones capable of conceiving their finitude. The variability of ideas is obvious: it can be the completeness of an external goal, which is explained by the physiological exhaustion of the body, the release of a historical destiny or the acceptance of the idea of the imminent finitude of any creation. Describing the ability to think as a privilege, M. Ferraris will state that only a human being who can be trained is endowed with such an ability.</p><p>The translation was made according to the publication: Ferraris M. “Umano, umanissimo, mai troppo umano”, La Lettura, February 26, 2023. URL: <a href="http://pierluigipiccini.it/umano-umanissimo-mai-troppo-umano/" target="_blank">http://pierluigipiccini.it/umano-umanissimo-mai-troppo-umano/</a></p>