Thehuman condition can be defined as the characteristics and key events ofhuman life, includingbirth,learning,emotion, aspiration,reason,morality, conflict, anddeath. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed from many perspectives, including those ofart,biology,literature,philosophy,psychology, andreligion.
As aliterary term, "human condition" is typically used in the context of ambiguous subjects, such as themeaning of life or moral concerns.[2]
Eachmajor religion has definitive beliefs regarding the human condition. For example,Buddhismteaches that existence is aperpetual cycle ofsuffering, death, and rebirth from which humans can beliberated via theNoble Eightfold Path. Meanwhile, manyChristians believe that humans are born in asinful condition and aredoomed in theafterlife unless they receivesalvation throughJesus Christ.
Philosophers have provided many perspectives. An influential ancient view was that of theRepublic in whichPlato explored the question "what is justice?" and postulated that it is not primarily a matter among individuals but ofsociety as a whole, prompting him to devise autopia. Two thousand years laterRené Descartes declared "I think, therefore I am" because he believed the humanmind, particularly its faculty ofreason, to be the primary determiner oftruth; for this he is often credited as the father ofmodern philosophy.[3] One such modern school,existentialism, attempts to reconcile an individual's sense of disorientation and confusion in a universe believed to beabsurd.
Many works of literature provide a perspective on the human condition.[2] One famous example isShakespeare's monologue "All the world's a stage" which pensively summarizes seven phases of human life.[4]
Psychology has many theories, includingMaslow's hierarchy of needs and the notions ofidentity crisis andterror management. It also has various methods, e.g. thelogotherapy developed byHolocaust survivorViktor Frankl to discover and affirm a sense of meaning. Another method,cognitive behavioral therapy, has become a widespread treatment forclinical depression.[5]
Charles Darwin established the biologicaltheory ofevolution, which posits that the humanspecies is related to all others, living and extinct, and thatnatural selection is the primary survival factor. This led to subsequent beliefs, such associal Darwinism, which eventually lost its connection to natural selection,[6] andtheistic evolution of acreator deity acting through laws of nature, including evolution.[7]
