Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how human/animal (non-human) boundary entail exclusion of others and crisis of our life. I will discuss this issue from various perspectives of philosophy, anthropology and primatology.

Paper long abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to examine how human/animal (non-human) boundary has been created and developed many struggles for people under exceptional conditions. I will start my discussion from Giorgio Agamben's explanation of the "anthropological machine", Roberto Esposito's warning of the "persona" as well as Osamu Nishitani's concern on the segregation between anthropos and humanitas, followed by Japanese primatology established by Kinji Imanishi and Jun-ichiro Itani, which has a tendency trying to understand human as a member of primates (animal).

A transformation of human life from nomadic style inherited from primate societies to settled style would be one of the most significant event in human history. Masaki Nishida labeled the transformation as "settled style revolution": since human has chosen settled lifestyle, a desire of accumulation has become paramount. This entails changes of way of communications, population growth, beginning of food production (agriculture), emerging civilizations and the great transformation illustrated by Karl Polanyi. This path leads to produce a rational economic man or homo economicus. According to Michel Foucault, they have moved to the next stage nowadays. That is to say, homo economicus could be recognized as "entrepreneur for himself" under neoliberal governmentality. It is safe to say that our life is in crisis under new style of management of life through bio-power.

The paper concludes that becoming anthropos, inspired by "becoming animal" mentioned by Gilles Deleuze repeatedly, might become a method to recapture the life of anthropos under severe conditions of neoliberalizing and globalizing world.