人類はなぜ人類なのか : 「未完の人類」

Abstract

I. Principal subject of physical anthropology Men, wherever they were, have always asked themselves "What are we?" This question has always been found in tribal beliefs, folklore, religion, philosophy, literature and finally found its way to science. This universal tendency of mankind emerged originally from the profound psychological base of adaptive strategy to intensify the sentiment of the same blood ties. II. Hypothetical essay on the linking between man and the non-human primates Physical anthropology "evolved" in the 1950's. This "evolution" accompanied the development of Anthropology as well as the development of Biology. This tendency promoted the emergence of a new science, Primatology; it also made it possible to determine the boundary areabetween organic (biological) and superorganic (cultural) dimensions. III. The way of life of Australopithecus groups based on the reconstruction of their living sites When mankind emerged, men already possessed important attributes such as fathership or family, the ability for making tools, and language. These attributes are mutually related and are usually used to recognize the beginnings of humanity. Mankind leaped from "instinct behavior" which is to react passively and mechanically to environmental stimuli to behavior determined by past experiences through social learning. In order to do this, man had to always establish the standard (criterion) on how to behave. This criterion may not be always absolute and endless to establish. This is a compensation for acquiring liberty from nature. The incompleteness of human acts are based on this point. IV. Primary motive for hominization It is certain that bipedalism is the most important attribute of the Hominidae. But adaptive change emerged earlier than that. There are many fossils which show signs that they were on the road to bipedalism. Therefore, bipedalism is one motive for hominization. The hypothesis of bipedalism was examined in comparison with the tool-using Hominidae. V. Relation between man and culture Human activities such as lifestyles or social behaviors which were originally biological changed qualitatively by being in contact with culture. VI. Self domestication Morphological, physiological, and ethological characteristics of man were possibly shaped through evolution by living under the artificial environment produced by human cultural activities. It may be thought that this phenomenon is similar to animals who later became domesticated. Therefore. we call this phenomenon "self-domestication". In another aspect, culture (especially material culture) has estranged man.