The question of us (homo sapiens) being special comes up in many aspects of ethics. This is especially the case in debates about artificial reproduction, euthanasia etc., yet also in ethics of research, which we know leads us not inevitably toward the good only.
Man as a species often thinks of himself to be special. This in a way implies that he is an exception. Does special mean better? Are we fooling ourselves? There are rules but they apply to all living beings. This is nowhere more evident that in our inside. We are after all just like most other complex living beings the result of developing from an inner tube an outer tube and some stuff in between and have a set of building blocks we share with the whole world.
Some might argue that such simplification negates the stuff that makes humans special such as a soul a divine spark. Is it impossible for a worm to have a spark? We still call many living things animals , implying that they have an "anima", a soul. Carl Jung gives us a hint on understanding the human soul: "Dream psychology opens up a way to a general comparative psychology, from which we hope to gain the same understanding of the development and structure of the human soul, as comparative anatomy has given us concerning the human body".
In a biological sense we are very successful. We can declare ourselves special, different from all other animals and therefore deserving special treatment too. We are good at such statements, which allow us to exploit all others. After all they are here for us. In dealing among us, within our species, we are not much better. Some humans are still so special at birth that they feel permission to treat all others as less deserving, exploiting them as much as we in general make use of animals. Are we really special to such a degree that we are granted privileges, and by whom?
In religion e.g. as Christians we got some other humans (prophets) to proclaim that we were given such privileges by God, and have proof, as such facts were written down (bible). We (homo sapiens) made them true (?) at least according to our rules!
Does it make us good? We still have to live with our "shadow" (Carl Jung, The Undiscovered Self) as an integral part of our conscious self. We are so successful and we can achieve so much good yet we can exploit and destroy all other life and the Earth with it. Knowing this fact alone should make us very humble.
If we can see ourselves as integral part and not the owners of the world including everything within we might feel privilege in being blessed rather than in being empowered to exploit; thus raising our consciousness and becoming considerate.
Man as a species often thinks of himself to be special. This in a way implies that he is an exception. Does special mean better? Are we fooling ourselves? There are rules but they apply to all living beings. This is nowhere more evident that in our inside. We are after all just like most other complex living beings the result of developing from an inner tube an outer tube and some stuff in between and have a set of building blocks we share with the whole world.
Some might argue that such simplification negates the stuff that makes humans special such as a soul a divine spark. Is it impossible for a worm to have a spark? We still call many living things animals , implying that they have an "anima", a soul. Carl Jung gives us a hint on understanding the human soul: "Dream psychology opens up a way to a general comparative psychology, from which we hope to gain the same understanding of the development and structure of the human soul, as comparative anatomy has given us concerning the human body".
In a biological sense we are very successful. We can declare ourselves special, different from all other animals and therefore deserving special treatment too. We are good at such statements, which allow us to exploit all others. After all they are here for us. In dealing among us, within our species, we are not much better. Some humans are still so special at birth that they feel permission to treat all others as less deserving, exploiting them as much as we in general make use of animals. Are we really special to such a degree that we are granted privileges, and by whom?
In religion e.g. as Christians we got some other humans (prophets) to proclaim that we were given such privileges by God, and have proof, as such facts were written down (bible). We (homo sapiens) made them true (?) at least according to our rules!
Does it make us good? We still have to live with our "shadow" (Carl Jung, The Undiscovered Self) as an integral part of our conscious self. We are so successful and we can achieve so much good yet we can exploit and destroy all other life and the Earth with it. Knowing this fact alone should make us very humble.
If we can see ourselves as integral part and not the owners of the world including everything within we might feel privilege in being blessed rather than in being empowered to exploit; thus raising our consciousness and becoming considerate.
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