Humankinds

The Early Modern Period gave rise to humanism ; it also witnessed an unprecedented diversification of the concept that was at its very core, the human. The question of what defines the human became increasingly contested as new developments the emergence of the natural sciences, the Reformation, colonial expansion were undermining old certainties. The resulting multiplication of definitions of the human bears out the assumption that anthropology is a discipline of crisis, seeking to establish sets of common values and norms in situations when established authority finds itself under pressure.