Mamedov, N. M., Mansurova, S. E. The Nature and Essence of Human

Abstract: The authors of the article analyze meanings and definitions of the terms ‘human nature’ and ‘human essence’ and grounds for their development, generalization and convergence taking into account modern genetic, anthropological and cultural discoveries. Historically, differentiation of these two concepts was caused by the formation of the ‘nature and culture’ opposition during the Early Modern Period when it was believed that expansion of the cultural sphereled to narrowing of the sphere of nature and cultural degradation, on the contrary, resulted in the revival of nature. The authors of the article show to what degree the aforesaid conclusion can be related to the human himself and what grounds there are for creating the ‘savage (animal) and civilized human’ opposition. The article is based on philosophical and general scientific principles of monism and development, integrity and consistency, concepts of historicism, evolutionism and self-organization. The discovered contradiction between rather conservative human nature and his free and creative ‘essence’ dictates the discourse about the manageable evolution of human as an actor of self-development. Philosophical and anthropological terms ‘cultural adaptation’ and ‘cultural evolution’ are described as a typological factor of human self-development. In fact, the authors describe the path to creating a new humanism — the goal UNESCO has been actively calling the world community for.

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