Metacultural Humanization

The term metacultural humanization originated with Hans Kilian, a German professor of social psychology and applied psychoanalysis.

Historical roots

The Köhler Foundation in the Donors‘ Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany characterizes Kilian’s ideas and work as follows: „Kilian sketched the outlines of a theory of human evolution, which he divided into three stages (to which correspond specific modes of development). The biological becoming of man is called ‚hominization‘. It is mediated primarily by genes, whose expression and selection are influenced by epigenetic factors and environmental influences. The second stage takes place as ‚humanization‘, whose course contains the socialization and enculturation of man (up to a development called transcultural by Kilian).

Kilian’s (fragmentary) theory of the third stage, which he calls ‚metacultural humanization‘, conceives of the postmodern present as an epoch in which we find ourselves at a new stage of human development (and have to direct this development ourselves).

Growing gap

This theory is based not least on a diagnosis of the times, which assumes a growing gap between scientific-technical development on the one hand, and the cultural, social and psychological development of man on the other. In the dynamic and differentiated world, globalized in many respects, new challenges and demands have constantly come upon man in the course of the 20th century.“  (http://www.hans-kilian-preis.de/hans-kilian/grundlagen-seines-denkens)

Literature

Köhler, Lotte/ Reulecke, Jürgen/ Straub, Jürgen (2011): Kulturelle Evolution und Bewusstseinswandel: Hans Kilian’s historical psychology and integrative anthropology. Giessen: Psychosozial-Verlag.

Köhler, Lotte: Foundations of his thinking. Brief characterization of the thought of Hans Kilian. Köhler Foundation in the Donors‘ Association for German Science. Essen: Kilian-Köhler-Centrum (KKC). https://www.hans-kilian-preis.de/hans-kilian/grundlagen-seines-denkens.