Hans J.L.M. Dassen

The biggest hurdle in 2500 years of philosophy has always been man himself – more specifically, the contents of his cranium, which a great many words have been used to describe. Existentialism and the Phenomenology of Perception (Merleau-Ponty) managed for the first time in the history of mankind to focus philosophy a bit more closely on ourselves. It took us until the end of the 20th century to come to the understanding that “we are our brain” (Dick Swaab) and that “we need to shift our focus from the mind to our brain” (Victor Lamme). What we then see is 100 billion brain cells, all “chattering with each other” (Victor Lamme), leading us to an initial insight into our history and evolution and our essential characteristics. We discover that our focus is now on processes in the brain, which I have chosen to call ‘experience’ or ‘the process of experience’. The neurological discoveries of the 20th century have not yet resulted in changes to our terminology; we still make use of outdated terms in talking about the new situation.I have given philosophical anthropology a new concrete substance on the basis of the definition of American philosopher and member of the American Philosophical Association Jim Dagenais: “a consistent overall vision of man and his world”, so that it can serve as the basis for philosophy and thus as the foundation for human life.The meaning of basic concepts is completely re-examined. Following developments in the 20th century, traditional definitions no longer serve our purpose; we must rigorously adapt our language to these developments so that it once again meets the basic requirements for communication. Then it allows us to describe a contemporary philosophy of human beings and to find answers to today’s questions and issues.