The human condition

Posted by ESC on May 02, 2002

In Reply to: The human condition posted by Weston on May 01, 2002

: I'm wondering about the general meaning of the term "human condition," because it seems sometimes to mean the current condition of humanity (emphasizing the more impoverished, disadvantaged majority) and sometimes to mean more broadly the condition of being human (being mortal, vulnerable, fallible, etc.).

I found a source but not a definition. From Barlett's Familiar Quotations:

"Every man bears the whole stamp of the human condition." Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592).

I'm not sure what it means. Something along the lines from a song, "People will be people." The nature of the human animal. Dogs will be dogs, cats will be cats. People will be people. That's as philosophical as I can get right now.