This paper discusses the problem of man’s alleged uniqueness and argues for a way to dissolve it. The first section offers a rough sketch and a critique of the research programme developed by German philosophical anthropologists during the years 1928-1958. In the remainder of the paper the problem of man’s uniqueness is connected to the distinction between the observer’s and the participant’s points of view, and it is argued that the problem can only be approached from the participant’s point of view. This approach has several consequences, the most important being that facts about man’s uniqueness are normative facts. The argument is based on the claim that ‘being human’ is best understood as that which philosophers nowadays call a response-dependent property.

Target article
Jan Bransen: Educatability. Dissolving the problem of man's uniqueness.

Commentaries
Lynne Rudder Baker: What does it mean to be one of us?
Preben Bertelsen: The human resonance in directedness at/by directedness.
Adam Morton: Facts versus decisions.
Timothy P. Racine & Jeremy I.M. Carpendale: Navigationg norms as responsive and responsible agents

Reply
Jan Bransen: An invitation to share evaluations.