What is meant
Human beings here are the biological living organism, whereas the human is human beings after the infusion of the spirit and the acquisition of consciousness Therefore, they are not synonymous terms; rather, the human denotes a higher level linked to consciousness and spirit
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: Distinguishing
- Argument movement: The human is a conscious level, whereas human beings are the living entity before consciousness.
- Central terms: human, human beings, spirit, consciousness.
- Degree of centrality: Primary.
This atom establishes a conceptual distinction between the biological dimension and the conscious dimension in the human being. In doing so, it makes the human a higher level associated with spirit and knowledge.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation
- Freedom, the Human, and Responsibility
- the human
- the spirit
- The human is a conscious rank, and the spirit is knowledge and legislation
Basis
- Supporting text: «The human: human beings after the infusion of the spirit and the acquisition of consciousness».
Degree of documentation
- Level: Directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom is based on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of the reading: The wording above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is transmitted textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
A foundational atom in Shahrur’s construction of the anthropological term.