The human and the beast, author: Mary Medgly

The book "Man and Beast" is the fruit of a midgley intellectual journey, as he wrote it at the age of eighty-five, and it is truly a classic work in our era, contributing to changing our perspective on ourselves and the world we live in. Shyam Saunder says that this book is one of the best books he has read about human nature, to the extent that he feels it diminishes the value of all other books he has read in his life. Joseph Yu says that Midgley, in this book, "grabbed a pen and struck with the force of a billion newtons on the head of those who adopt the blank slate theory, which claims that we have no innate human nature, as if we are blank sheets on which everything can be written. The written things come from culture and society, and they can be erased and changed at will." The book addresses a fundamental topic, which is that humans have a nature that distinguishes them from other creatures. Midgley attempts to counter biologists of her time—who support the theory of evolution—and who claim that human nature is similar to animal temperaments. Midgley lays the foundations through which this nature can be studied, foundations that AI scientists are now seeking to simulate human behavior. Then Midgley moves to practical results, asking: can our understanding of our nature influence our lives? Midgley concludes that it is necessary to discuss what distinguishes us in terms of rationality and culture in light of the beings around us with whom we coexist. Midgley says: "We are not minds without bodies, and there is no need for us to be so; rather, we are creatures of a specific kind on this planet, and this shapes our values." Mary Midgley, a British philosopher known for her works in empirical sciences and ethics, was called the philosopher of ethics. She authored more than fifteen books.