Levels of Organic Life and the Human: An Introduction to Philosophical Anthropology

A modern classic, this powerful and sophisticated account of embodiment was first published in German in 1928 and now appears in English for the first time. With reference simultaneously to science, social theory, and philosophy, Plessner shows how life can be seen on its own terms to establish its own boundaries. Plessner’s account of how the human establishes itself in relation to the nonhuman will invigorate a range of current conversations around the animal, posthumanism, the material turn, and the biology and sociology of cognition.

Helmuth Plessner (Author)
Helmuth Plessner (1892-1985) was a German philosopher and sociologist. From 1953-59, he was president of the German Sociological Association. Three of his many books have appeared in English, Political Anthropology (Northwestern, 2018), The Limits of Community (Humanity Books, 1999) and Laughing and Crying (Northwestern, 1970).

J. M. Bernstein (Introducer)
J. M. Bernstein is University Distinguished Professor in Philosophy at The New School for Social Research in New York City.

Millay Hyatt (Translator)
Millay Hyatt is a writer and translator based in Berlin. Her dissertation, ＂No-Where and Now-Here: Utopia and Politics from Hegel to Deleuze,＂ received the University of Southern California’s doctoral research prize.