Editing Human condition

{{Short description|Ultimate concerns of human existence}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:StillLifeWithASkull.jpg|thumb|This painting, with symbols of life, death, and time, is an example of ''[[memento mori]]'' art.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ostberg |first=R |date=January 18, 2023 |title=Memento mori |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/memento-mori }}</ref>]]

The '''human condition''' can be defined as the characteristics and key events of [[human]] life, including [[childbirth|birth]], [[learning]], [[emotion]], aspiration, [[reason]], [[morality]], conflict, and [[death]]. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed from many perspectives, including those of [[art]], [[biology]], [[literature]], [[philosophy]], [[psychology]], and [[religion]].

As a [[terminology|literary term]], "human condition" is typically used in the context of ambiguous subjects, such as the [[meaning of life]] or moral concerns.<ref name="lit">{{cite web |url=http://learn.lexiconic.net/humancondition.htm |title=The Human Condition in Literature |author=C. Welch |access-date=28 April 2021}}</ref>

==Some perspectives==
Each [[major religious groups|major religion]] has definitive beliefs regarding the human condition. For example, [[Buddhism]] [[Four Noble Truths|teaches]] that existence is a [[Samsara|perpetual cycle]] of [[dukkha|suffering]], death, and rebirth from which humans can be [[Nirvana|liberated]] via the [[Noble Eightfold Path]]. Meanwhile, many [[Christianity|Christians]] believe that humans are born in a [[original sin|sinful condition]] and are [[Christian views on hell|doomed]] in the [[afterlife]] unless they receive [[Salvation (Christianity)|salvation]] through [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]].

Philosophers have provided many perspectives. An influential ancient view was that of the ''[[The Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'' in which [[Plato]] explored the question "what is justice?" and postulated that it is not primarily a matter among individuals but of [[society]] as a whole, prompting him to devise a [[utopia]]. Two thousand years later [[René Descartes]] declared "[[Cogito ergo sum|I think, therefore I am]]" because he believed the human [[mind]], particularly its faculty of [[reason]], to be the primary determiner of [[truth]]; for this he is often credited as the father of [[modern philosophy]].<ref>[[Bertrand Russell]] (2004), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ey94E3sOMA0C&pg=PA511 ''History of Western Philosophy''], pp. 511, 516–7.</ref> One such modern school, [[existentialism]], attempts to reconcile an individual's sense of disorientation and confusion in a universe believed to be [[absurdism|absurd]].

Many works of literature provide a perspective on the human condition.<ref name="lit"/> One famous example is [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] monologue "[[All the world's a stage]]" which pensively summarizes seven phases of human life.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-12 |title='All The World's A Stage': Quote & Meaning |url=https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/famous/all-the-worlds-a-stage/ |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=No Sweat Shakespeare |language=en-US}}</ref>

Psychology has many theories, including [[Maslow's hierarchy of needs]] and the notions of [[identity crisis]] and [[Terror management theory|terror management]]. It also has various methods, e.g. the [[logotherapy]] developed by [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] survivor [[Viktor Frankl]] to discover and affirm a sense of meaning. Another method, [[cognitive behavioral therapy]], has become a widespread treatment for [[major depressive disorder|clinical depression]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Driessen Ellen |author2=Hollon Steven D | year = 2010 | title = Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Mood Disorders: Efficacy, Moderators and Mediators | journal = Psychiatric Clinics of North America | volume = 33 | issue = 3| pages = 537–55 |doi=10.1016/j.psc.2010.04.005 | pmid=20599132 | pmc=2933381}}</ref>

[[Charles Darwin]] established the biological [[scientific theory|theory]] of [[evolution]], which posits that the human [[species]] is related to all others, living and extinct, and that [[natural selection]] is the primary survival factor. This led to subsequent beliefs, such as [[social Darwinism]], which eventually lost its connection to natural selection,<ref> {{cite book| last = Bowler| first = Peter J.| year = 2003| title = Evolution: The History of an Idea| edition = 3rd
|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|page=179| isbn = 978-0520236936| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/evolutionhistory0000bowl_n7y8}}</ref> and [[theistic evolution]] of a [[creator deity]] acting through laws of nature, including evolution.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Creation/Evolution Continuum | website=[[National Center for Science Education]]|url=https://ncse.ngo/creationevolution-continuum|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=22 June 2022|access-date=January 26, 2024|archive-date=January 26, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240126235939/https://ncse.ngo/creationevolution-continuum}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Wiktionary | human condition}}
* [[Human nature]]
* [[Know thyself]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Humanities}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Condition}}
[[Category:Concepts in philosophical anthropology]]
[[Category:Concepts in social philosophy]]
[[Category:Concepts in the philosophy of mind]]
[[Category:Existentialist concepts]]
[[Category:Humans]]
[[Category:Personal life]]
[[Category:Philosophy of life]]
[[Category:Psychological concepts]]