Human Exceptionalism and the Lot of Animals: Telling Stories About “Human Nature” in the Anthropocene

Sonja Žakula

doi:10.2298/FID2401035Z

Authors

Sonja Žakula Institute of Ethnography SASA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2298/FID2401035Z

Keywords:

“human nature”, human exceptionalism, other animals, Western epistemology

Abstract

This paper arose from a discussion of Maria Kronfeldner’s book What’s Left of Human Nature? In it, I am chiefly concerned with two things: the role that other animals are afforded in discussions about and attempts at defining “human nature”, and a critique of the concept of nature that is utilized in the book. Furthermore, I view science as storytelling practice, and scholarly narratives about “human nature” as important stories in order to pose the question of accountability of telling such stories in the Anthropocene.

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