Abstract

This work defends the understanding that Homo sapiens is a unique species, bearing an ontological distinction that makes it different from other species of animal life. However, challenges from contemporary biology and evolutionary theory may offer us reasons to either abandon the idea of human uniqueness entirely, or else revise our understanding of what human beings are in light of the presence of intelligent behavior in other animal species. Over the course of five chapters, I attempt to understand human nature through a multidisciplinary investigation. I do this by considering theological understandings and ethical theories in addition to scientific facts, recognizing that the scope of each is up to a point limited to its own universe of discourse. Overlaps between each discipline, however, allow for a broader and more comprehensive understanding of human nature than employing only one discipline will allow. My goal is to provide an understanding of human nature that is limited by neither scientific materialist nor religious fundamentalist perspectives.