User:Fixer1234/Humanity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term humanity has multiple distinct and notable meanings.

[edit] General Uses

It can refer to the human race collectively.

It can refer to Human nature, or the "quality or condition of being human."[1]

It is the singular form of Humanities, which refers to learning or literature connected to various fields of scholarship including the Classics, grammar and rhetoric, poetry, and certain branches of philosophy.[2]

It can refer to the "quality of being humane", or a disposition to kindness, compassion, or benevolence. (See Altruism.)[3]

[edit] Technical Uses

In the Moral Philosophy of Immanuel Kant the second formulation of the categorical imperative is often translated using the word humanity. (For additional articles on topics related to this meaning, see personhood and human rights.)

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Humanity" The Oxford English Dictionary Online. 2007. http://dictionary.oed.com/ (18 April 2007).
  2. ^ "Humanity" The Oxford English Dictionary Online. 2007. http://dictionary.oed.com/ (18 April 2007).
  3. ^ "Humanity" The Oxford English Dictionary Online. 2007. http://dictionary.oed.com/ (18 April 2007).