Table of Contents
Introduction ix
Part 1. Phylogenetics of the Emergence of Humans 1
Chapter 1. The Long and Slow Emergence of Humans 3
1.1. The difficulty of thinking about the beginning of the human being 3
1.2. The current challenge of human construction 7
Chapter 2. Technique and Becoming Human 9
2.1. A general definition of technique 9
2.2. Awareness and use of techniques 13
2.3. Technical posture in human phylogenesis 14
Chapter 3. Ethology: Technique and the Frog 17
3.1. The Goliath frog: a technician frog 17
3.2. Causes for the Goliath frog’s gigantic size 18
Chapter 4. Neoteny: From Concept to Grand Narrative 19
4.1. Sources of the concept of neoteny in biology 19
4.2. Applying the concept of neoteny to the human being 20
4.3. Appropriation of the concept of neo-neoteny by the humanities 22
4.4. Neotenization: a “grand narrative” of the emergence of the human being 24
Chapter 5. Issues of Neoteny and Technique 27
5.1. A very old conception of human “disabilities” 27
5.2. The equipped human and neotenic human: two unrelated concepts 28
5.3. The philosophy of technique: a recent discipline 30
Chapter 6. Neoteny and Fetal Consciousness 33
6.1. Humans before birth 33
6.2. Humanity of the baby at birth 35
6.3. Ancient protection of the human baby at birth 36
Chapter 7. Inversion of the Analysis: The Lamarckian Bias 39
7.1. The ambiguous concept of adaptation 39
7.2. The uselessness of adaptation with the concept of natural selection 41
7.3. The use of a tool: a selective system 43
7.4. From tool-based technique to body-based technique 44
7.5. New evolutionary narratives 46
Chapter 8. Animal Behavior: Hermit Crabs and Their Shells 51
8.1. The hermit crab: a strange crustacean 51
8.2. The hermit crab: an oblivious technician? 52
Chapter 9. Prejudice About the Priority of Values 55
9.1. The human sense of morality: an exception? 55
9.2. Prioritizing cognitive ability in human characteristics 56
9.3. Role of technique in the emergence of language 58
Chapter 10. The First Phase of the Hominization Process 61
10.1. The conditions of access to humans through technique 61
10.2. Verticality as the first pre-human technical experience 66
10.3. The consequences of verticality 78
Chapter 11. Towards the Verticalization of the Genus Homo 83
11.1. Aging of technical achievements 83
11.2. Phylogenesis of characteristics and lineages 88
11.3. From Australopithecus to the genus Homo: the selection of technicality 94
Chapter 12. Technical Evolution and Neoteny of the Genus Homo 101
12.1. Homo habilis: a new bushy development? 101
12.2. Homo erectus, the advent of a technical humanity 106
12.3. Homo sapiens, the advent of inner life and the imaginary 113
Part 2. Technique and Human Ontology 127
Chapter 13. Technique as the Foundation of the Human Being 129
13.1. A look back at stone-knapping: the contribution of neuroscience 129
13.2. Explaining humans through technique: a conceptual error 132
13.3. Mental exaptation as a norm of human development 136
13.4. The relationship between bodily technique and tool technique 139
13.5. Variability of technical capabilities 145
Chapter 14. The Domestication of the Wolf: A Decisive Advantage? 149
14.1. The oldest domestication 149
14.2. The co-evolution of humans and dogs 150
14.3. The strength of the association between humans and dogs 154
Chapter 15. Reforming Our Thinking About Humans? 157
15.1. The human characteristic: a search without a future? 157
15.2. The major innovation in body techniques 159
15.3. Technique and the game: a fundamental intertwining factor 163
15.4. New accounts of the emergence of culture 165
15.5. The influence of techniques on evolutionary processes 169
15.6. The relationship between technical behavior and biological evolution 174
15.7. The selection of neoteny 180
15.8. Towards the human being: convergences and co-evolutions 187
15.9. Homo sapiens, a convergence of multiple capacities 191
15.10. The ultimate technical step towards the human: mental technique 196
15.11. The technical inscription of the mind 204
15.12. The construction of thought 205
Chapter 16. Emergence, Then Global Expansion 207
16.1. Rapid global development 207
16.2. Great linguistic diversification 208
16.3. Co-evolution of cultures, languages and techniques 208
16.4. The anthropization of the planet 209
Chapter 17. The Myth of the Golden Age 211
17.1. The Golden Age in ancient myths 211
17.2. The Golden Age of modern thinkers 213
17.3. Believing in a golden age: a cognitive bias? 214
Conclusion 217
References 225
Index 243
