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Supplements for Survival: On the Category of ‘Surplus of Impulses’ in Arnold Gehlen’s Anthropobiology

  • Sebastián Agudelo

    Sebastián Agudelo, PhD in philosophy from the University of Paris VIII (Vincennes/Saint-Denis). He specialises in philosophical anthropology, pragmatism, philosophy of technology and translation studies. He prepares a post-doc in the Freie Universität Berlin.

Published/Copyright: October 6, 2023
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Abstract

The surplus of impulses is a key category in Gehlen’s anthropobiology to understand the process of hominisation and humanisation. From the dedifferentiation of human instincts and the primitivisation of man’s anatomy, to the role of experience, institutions, and speech, the surplus of impulses is a source that flows between the inner and the outer, by feeding the action circle that whether translates in activity or is redirected inwards in order to become a movement of volitional constitution. The ambivalence in which Gehlen deals with this function of freedom gives rise to a pessimistic and sacrificial idea of man. However, he posits certain basic elements of a hedonistic theory of speech from which we can better understand the stabilizing task of language as cornerstone of institutions.

About the author

Sebastián Agudelo

Sebastián Agudelo, PhD in philosophy from the University of Paris VIII (Vincennes/Saint-Denis). He specialises in philosophical anthropology, pragmatism, philosophy of technology and translation studies. He prepares a post-doc in the Freie Universität Berlin.

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Published Online: 2023-10-06
Published in Print: 2022-12-16

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