Antihuman

Antihuman is a term used to describe views, theories, or positions that oppose or critique certain central tenets of humanism, particularly the idea of a rational, autonomous human subject as the measure of value or meaning. The word is employed in philosophy, literary theory, and cultural critique to signal a stance that challenges universal human norms or the primacy of human experience in explaining knowledge, ethics, or social life.

In philosophical contexts, antihumanism refers to strands that question the primacy of the self-aware, rational subject and emphasize the social, linguistic, or historical conditions that shape cognition and agency. Post-structuralist and critical-theory currents are frequently associated with antihumanist critiques, arguing that categories such as subjectivity, truth, and rights are not fixed or universally applicable but are produced by power relations and discourses.

Ethically and politically, antihumanist critiques can be controversial because they risk undermining universalist claims about human rights, dignity, or moral worth. Proponents typically contend that such critiques reveal hidden assumptions about human nature and reveal how values are contingent and constructed rather than absolute.

In culture and media, antihumanist ideas sometimes appear as themes that question human exceptionalism or depict non-human entities as possessing agency, systems of power, or forms of knowledge beyond human-centric perspectives.

Overall, antihuman describes a family of positions that interrogate the centrality of the human in knowledge, ethics, and social life, often balanced by debates over the risks and benefits of de-emphasizing human-centric frameworks.