Helmuth Plessner (1892-1985) was one of the founders of philosophical anthropology, and his book The Stages of the Organic and Man, first published in 1928, has inspired generations of philosophers, biologists, social scientists, and humanities scholars. This volume offers the first substantial introduction to Plessner’s philosophical anthropology in English, not only setting it in context with such familiar figures as Bergson, Cassirer, and Merleau-Ponty, but also showing Plessner’s relevance to contemporary discussions in a wide variety of fields in the humanities and sciences.

Jos de Mul is full professor of Philosophy of Man and Culture at the Faculty of Philosophy, Erasmus University Rotterdam. He has also taught at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and Fudan University (Shanghai). His publications include: The Tragedy of Finitude. Dilthey's Hermeneutics of Life (Yale UP 2004) and Destiny Domesticated. The Rebirth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Technology (SUNY, March 2014).

PART I ANTHROPOLOGYJoachim FischerPhilosophical Anthropology - a third way: between Darwinism and FoucaultismHans-Peter KrügerThe Nascence of Modern Man: Two Approaches to the Problem - Biological Evolutionary Theory and Philosophical AnthropologyKarl-Siegbert RehbergNew Biology and Unchanged Old Questions: Recent Research and the 'Sonderstellungs'-hypotheses of the Philosophical Anthropology?Heike Delitz'True' and 'false' Evolutionism. Bergson's critique of Spencer, Darwin & Co. and its relevance for Plessner (and us)Thomas EbkeLife, Concept and Subject: Plessner's vital turn in the light of Kant and BergsonThomas FröhlichBiophysical Remarks on Plessner's Term PositionalityJasper van BuurenPlessner and the Mathematical-Physical Perspective: The Prescientific Objectivity of the Human BodyMartino Enrico BoccignoneThe Duty of Personal Identity: Authenticity and IronyPART II CULTURERobert MugerauerBi-Directional Boundaries: Eccentric Life and Its EnvironmentsJetske van OostenThe unbearable freedom of dwellingHuib ErnsteEccentric Positionality and Urban SpaceKirsten PolsStrangely Familiar. The Debate on Multiculturalism and Plessner's Philosophical AnthropologyScott DavisPlessner and the Structural Study of Ancient ChinaVeronika Magyar-HaasDe-Masking as a Characteristic of Social Work?Bas HengstmengelHelmuth Plessner as a Social Theorist - Role Playing in Legal DiscourseHenrike LerchAnthropology as a Foundation of Cultural Philosophy. The Connection of Human Nature and Culture by Helmuth Plessner and Ernst CassirerPetran KockelkorenThe quest for the sources of the self, seen from the vantage-point of Plessner's material a prioriPART III TECHNOLOGYGesa LindemannThe Brain in the Vat as the Epistemic Object of NeurobiologyJohannes HätscherSwitching 'On', Switching 'Off' - Does Neurosurgery in Parkinson's Disease Create Man-Machines?Oreste TolonePlessner's Theory of Eccentricity: a Contribution to the Philosophy of MedicineHeleen J. PottOn Humor and 'Laughing' Rats: Plessner's Importance for Affective NeuroscienceMireille HildebrandtEccentric positionality as a precondition for the criminal liability of artificial life formsJanna van GrunsvenThe Body Exploited: Torture and the Destruction of SelfDierk SpreenNot Terminated: Cyborgized Men Still Remain Human BeingPeter-Paul VerbeekThe Limits of Man Jos de MulPhilosophical anthropology 2.0: Reading Plessner in the age of converging technologies