Rethinking the Human

J. Michelle Molina is Assistant Professor of Catholic Studies at Northwestern University. Donald K. Swearer is Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Harvard Divinity School’s Center for the Study of World Religions and Professor of Religion, Emeritus, at Swarthmore College. Michael J. Puett is Professor of Chinese History at Harvard University. Lila Abu-Lughod is the Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science at Columbia University, where she teaches anthropology and women's studies. Charles Hallisey is Yehan Numata Senior Lecturer on Buddhist Literatures at Harvard University.

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.