On the Human | Online Forum with Harriet Ritvo 





On the Human
Harriet Ritvo's essay "Humans and Humanists (and Scientists)," is the focus of an on-line forum called "On the Human," sponsored by the National Humanities Center.  

An excerpt:
"...the more that we have come to know about the dispositions of chimpanzees and other primates, the harder it has become to maintain a firm separation. Many characteristics that once seemed exclusively or at least distinctively human, including moral intuition, oppressive patriarchy, internecine strife, and cannibalism, turn out to be more widely distributed. Intelligence has proved a weak reed for similar reasons. None of the intellectual barriers erected to isolate people have proved reliably robust."


Visit the National Humanities Center
 to read and respond to the essay, and to read Professor's Ritvo's replies.  

 
 

 

Harriet Ritvo | Arthur J. Conner Professor of History