ABSTRACT
This chapter opens the first volume of a trilogy which investigates, from a broadly realist perspective, the place, and challenges, of the human in contemporary social orders. We examine the significance, for humanism and humanity, of living in societies in which the concept of morphogenesis is increasingly relevant. The book opens with three ontological reflexions by Archer, Porpora and Donati on the nature, specificity and worth of what makes us human. It continues with an extended exploration by Morgan of two key debates within the artificial intelligence literature that have influenced how we think about AI and the human. It closes with three sociological discussions of contemporary societal challenges to human worth by Maccarini, Carrigan and Al-Amoudi.
