Across centuries and different generations, different people have held different views on what constitutes the world. Whereas some people hold the opinion that the world is what happens around us in our day to day lives and activities, others hold to the view that the world is what exists even when we the human beings are absent and have been pulled away from the physical world. This statement and argument has led to various philosophers and thinkers having a crash of opinions, leading to many questions concerning the world and humanity (Weston 27).
Many philosophers across the world have come up with different definitions and understanding for humanity in relation to the world we live in. however, one fact has been agreed upon and many philosophers accept to the definition that humanity is the entire collection of mankind across the world, both in the present and past generations. Humanity is also a discipline in philosophy that attempts to study the essence of being for mankind, what factors affect their lives and their existence as well as their mutual relationship with one another. Humanity is what defines the world we live in and for this reason many people from various disciplines tend to relate humanity to the world (Weston 66).
The world also according to philosopher consist of all the aspects which collectively play an active role in maintaining harmony and the good relationship between people, the most important values being respect, discipline and morality. From this outlook and perspective, it is hence evident that the subject of humanity is one complex interdisciplinary aspect of life that consists of the interrelationship between different disciplines in life and all these can be narrowed down to the essence of being in human beings. Keeping this perspective in mind therefore, it is hence evident that the world would not exist without the existence of human beings or life and this is one of the views shared by philosopher Martin Buber (110).
Some philosophers however hold a different point of view concerning the world. This is especially so by philosophers who approach the subject from a geographical and physical point of view, whereby the existence of the world is merely described as a collection of several islands separated from each other by water masses, upon which life is based and roots its foundations. However, this cannot be agreed to be entirely the case from a realistic point of view, because this definition only fits and considers the physical aspects of the world’s existence and for this reason it does not include the non-physical aspects of the essence of existence, such as life, emotions and existence (Sayre 44).
Secondly, according to Martin Buber’s soul and spirit perspective of the existence and essence of the world has also put into consideration both the present and the past aspects of existence, and this has particularly been achieved through considering factors such as cultural diversity and the existence of differences between various persons in the society. This as seen in the first definitional paragraph of this assignment is an important aspect in understanding the universe and humanity since understanding and acknowledging other people’s culture and embracing their differences is one of the most important steps in achieving harmony and oneness between the two people. For this reason therefore, the soul and spirit perspective is the most ideal concept that describes and explains the whole human and his nature (Buber 15).
Other common views however have only considered the physical existence of the universe and this is particularly the reason why most of them have been declared and proved to be unrealistic. This is especially the case with common laws defining the world from a physical or geographical perspective. From this assignment therefore, a number of things have been noted. For example, definition of the world, its existence and humanity should consider both the living and non-living aspects of life, as well as both the present and the past (Buber 177).
Works cited
Buber, Martin. Inter-subjectivity and Cultural Creativity. 1st ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. Print.
Buber, Martin. I and Thou. New Translation. New Jersey: Simon and Schuster Publishers, 1976. Print.
Sayre, Henry. The Humanities: Culture, Continuity and Change. 1st Edition, New Jersey: Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Weston, Anthony. A Rule Book for Arguments. 4th Edition, Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing, 2010. Print.
