The early modern period gave rise to ´;humanism´; it also witnessed an unprecedented diversification of the concept that was at its very core, the human. The question of what defines the human became increasingly contested as new developments - the emergence of the natural sciences, the Reformation, colonial expansion - were undermining old certainties.

The resulting multiplication of definitions of the human bears out the assumption that anthropology is a discipline of crisis, seeking to establish sets of common values and norms in situations when established authority finds itself under pressure.

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