Rather than affirm conceptions of the human, grounded in culture, biology or history, these writers move us to consider particular human beings in quotidian situations, struggling against defeat, caring for loved ones, resisting chaos, increasing their hold on life, while aware of the limits of what it is possible to know, do, say or lay claim to. As such, Rethinking the Human attests as much to the humanity of these scholars as it opens up new horizons for understanding the impasses and quandaries that characterize the human condition.

This remarkable set of essays encourages students of philosophy, anthropology, ethics, and religion to reconsider their understanding of human engagements in the world. Skirting both pat humanisms and fervid announcements of the post-human, the authors show how situations of aging, loss, ritual, caretaking, shared everyday life, and scholarly inquiry can produce moments of arresting insight or connection, in which people come to rethink what it means to be human in their own lives and the lives of others.