Człowieczeństwo w ujęciu Jerzego Chmurzyńskiego
Humanity According to Jerzy Chmurzyński

Summary/Abstract: Humanity is a concept that denotes features common to all people, including features that constitute the differences between humans and other animal species. This issue was first taken up by Jerzy Chmurzyński, an entomologist, ethologist and philosopher, “the father of Polish ethology”, through the question: ‘to what extent are animals human?’ The scope of ethology, by adopting the evolutionary paradigm, includes all living organisms capable of behaving. This article focuses on Chmurzyński’s ethological approach to human nature and examines its anthropological, ethical and aesthetic implications. This approach shows, on the one hand, that man is a part of nature; on the other hand, it highlights the features man acquired in the process of evolution, which enable humans to exceed the animal level. Among such features, abstract thinking, language, ethics, aesthetics and culture can be singled out as the most distinctive of the human species. Jerzy Chmurzyński, by showing the biological roots of humanity allows us to better understand what it means to “be yourself in your human nature”. Furthermore, this type of reasoning leads to conclusions that can be taken to constitute universal, “biological signposts” that strengthen traditional value systems, countering the threats in the form of deviation from homo sapiens behaviour.

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