A dynamic anthropology in a decisive epoch

S. Takdir Alisjahbana

pp. 197-211

in: Facts and values, Berlin, Springer, 1986

Abstract

In the innumerable, ever-changing manifestations of reality, the realm of events, man has a special position as a behaving and acting being. In the realm of the inorganic, every change or event occurs according to the laws of physics, mechanics and chemistry. In the realm of plant life, we already discern a certain organization in the changes and events which we call life: an integrated totality, limited in time and space, manifests itself in growth, makes contact with and adjusts itself to its environment, and reproduces itself with characteristics passed on from generation to generation. In animals this life reaches an organization of the psyche, which with the help of the sensory and motor organs enables them, through their instincts, to make contact with and to adjust to their environment in a much more dynamic and differentiated way than plants.