ABSTRACT
In 1802, inspired by the speculative philosophical theories about the history of the earth that were in vogue in the eighteenth century, Jean-Baptist de Lamarck presented a new theory of life. Out of biological, paleontological, biochemical and molecular-biological research, therefore, a vision of human beings arises that diverges markedly from the more philosophical ideas that were current until the nineteenth century. In the late eighteenth century, however, philosophers emerged who insisted that humankind was developing and aspired to perfection. The elucidation of the mechanism of heredity had enormous consequences for the idea of evolution. Variation and heredity had become purely biological concepts that were found only at a molecular level. The history of the hominids, as it has taken shape in contemporary research, consists of a confusing tangle of lines of descent. The various sciences that deal with the human species have continued to exist alongside each other and they each have their own principles and methods.
