List of alternative names for the human species

In addition to the generally accepted scientific classification Homo sapiens (Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

: "wise man" or "knowing man"), other Latin-based names for the human species have been created to refer to various aspects of the human character. Some of these are ironic of the self-ascribed nobility immanent in the choice of sapiens, others are serious suggestions as to what Human universals may be considered defining characteristics of the species.

The mixture of serious and tongue-in-cheek self-designation originates with Plato

Plato

Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...

, who on one hand
defined man as it were taxonomically as "featherless biped" and on the other as , as "political" or "state-building animal" (Aristotle

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...

's term, based on Plato's Statesman).

Name	Translation	Notes
Homo amans	"loving man", "loving people"	man as a loving Love Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels... agent; Humberto Maturana Humberto Maturana Humberto Maturana is a Chilean biologist and philosopher. He is considered a member of the second wave of cybernetics, known for developing a theory of autopoiesis about the nature of reflexive feedback control in living systems.- Biography :After completing secondary school at the Liceo Manuel de... 2008
Homo oeconomicus Homo Oeconomicus Homo Oeconomicus is an interdisciplinary peer reviewed academic journal publishing studies in classical and neoclassical economics, public choice and social choice theory, law and economics, and philosophy of economics....	"economic man"	man as a rational Rationality In philosophy, rationality is the exercise of reason. It is the manner in which people derive conclusions when considering things deliberately. It also refers to the conformity of one's beliefs with one's reasons for belief, or with one's actions with one's reasons for action... and self-interested agent.
Homo Ecologicus	"Ecological Man"	A new ecological consciousness for humanity, part of modern environmentalism.
Homo faber Homo faber Homo faber is a philosophical concept articulated by Hannah Arendt and Max Scheler that refers to humans as controlling the environment through tools...	"toolmaker man" "fabricator man" "worker man"	Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat... , Karl Marx Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement... , Kenneth Oakley Kenneth Oakley Kenneth Page Oakley was an English physical anthropologist, palaeontologist and geologist.Oakley, known for his work in the relative dating of fossils by fluorine content, was instrumental in the exposure in the 1950s of the Piltdown Man hoax.Oakley was born and died in Amersham,... 1949, Max Frisch Max Frisch Max Rudolf Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist, regarded as highly representative of German-language literature after World War II. In his creative works Frisch paid particular attention to issues relating to problems of human identity, individuality, responsibility, morality and political... 1957, Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact... .
Homo generosus	"generous man"	suggested by popular science Popular science Popular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many... writer Tor Nørretranders Tor Nørretranders Tor Nørretranders is a Danish author of popular science. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His books and lectures have primarily been focused on science and its role in society, often with Nørretranders' own advice about how society should integrate new findings in science... in his book Generous Man on evolutionary theory and sociobiology Sociobiology Sociobiology is a field of scientific study which is based on the assumption that social behavior has resulted from evolution and attempts to explain and examine social behavior within that context. Often considered a branch of biology and sociology, it also draws from ethology, anthropology,... .
Homo adorans	"worshipping man"	Man as a worshipping agent, a servant of God or gods.
Homo ludens	"playing man"	Friedrich Schiller Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe... 1795. Suggested by Dutch historian, cultural theorist and professor Johan Huizinga Johan Huizinga Johan Huizinga , was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history.-Life:Born in Groningen as the son of Dirk Huizinga, a professor of physiology, and Jacoba Tonkens, who died two years after his birth, he started out as a student of Indo-Germanic languages, earning his... , in his book Homo Ludens Homo Ludens Homo Ludens or "Man the Player" is a book written in 1938 by Dutch historian, cultural theorist and professor Johan Huizinga.It discusses the importance of the play element of culture and society.... . The characterization of human culture as essentially bearing the character of play.
Homo sociologicus	"sociological man"	parody term; the human as prone to sociology Sociology Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity... , Ralf Dahrendorf Ralf Dahrendorf Ralf Gustav Dahrendorf, Baron Dahrendorf, KBE, FBA was a German-British sociologist, philosopher, political scientist and liberal politician.... .
Homo loquens	"talking man"	man as the only animal capable of language Language Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication... , J. G. Herder 1772, J. F. Blumenbach 1779
Homo loquax	"chattering man"	parody variation of Homo loquens, used by Henri Bergson Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century. Bergson convinced many thinkers that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality.He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize... (1943), Tom Wolfe Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:... (2006), also in A Canticle for Leibowitz A Canticle for Leibowitz A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller, Jr., first published in 1960. Set in a Roman Catholic monastery in the desert of the southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war, the story spans thousands of years as... (1960).
Homo necans Homo necans Homo Necans: the Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth is a book on ancient Greek religion and mythology by Walter Burkert, which won the Weaver Award for Scholarly Literature, awarded by the Ingersoll Foundation, in 1992...	"killing man"	Walter Burkert Walter Burkert Walter Burkert is a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult.An emeritus professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he also has taught in the United Kingdom and the United States...
Homo demens	"mad man"	man as the only being with irrational delusions. Edgar Morin Edgar Morin Edgar Morin is a French philosopher and sociologist born Edgar Nahoum in Paris on July 8, 1921. He is of Judeo-Spanish origin. He is known for the transdisciplinarity of his works.- Biography :... 1975
Homo ridens	"laughing man"	G.B. Milner 1969
Homo sentimentalis	"sentimental man"	man born to a civilization of sentiment, who has raised feelings to a category of value; the human ability to empathize, but also to idealize emotions and make them servants of ideas. Milan Kundera Milan Kundera Milan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in... in Immortality (1990), Eugene Halton in Bereft of Reason: On the Decline of Social Thought and Prospects for Its Renewal (1995).
Homo politicus	"political man", "social man"	zóon politikón, animal sociale, after Aristotle Aristotle Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
Homo inermis	"helpless man"	man as defenseless, unprotected, devoid of animal instincts. J. F. Blumenbach 1779, J. G. Herder 1784–1791, Arnold Gehlen Arnold Gehlen Arnold Gehlen was an influential conservative German philosopher and sociologist.-Biography:His major influences while studying philosophy were Hans Driesch, Nicolai Hartmann and especially Max Scheler.... 1940
Homo creator	"creator man"	human creativity, Michael Landmann Michael Landmann Michael Landmann was a Jewish Swiss Philosopher.-Life:Michael Landmann was the son of economist Julius Landmann and philosopher Edith Landmann. Philologist Georg Peter Landmann is his brother... 1955, W.E. Mühlmann 1962
Homo pictor	"depicting man", "man the artist"	human sense of aesthetics, Hans Jonas Hans Jonas Hans Jonas was a German-born philosopher who was, from 1955 to 1976, Alvin Johnson Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City.Jonas's writings were very influential in different spheres... 1961
Homo aestheticus	"aesthetic man"	human sense of aesthetics Aesthetics Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste... , tendency to create and enjoy art, Ellen Dissanayake Ellen Dissanayake Ellen Dissanayake is an independent scholar whose work focuses on the anthropological exploration of art and culture. She is credited for re-defining art as 'making special'; that is, art making involves taking something out of its everyday use and context and making it somehow special.As she... 1992
Homo grammaticus	"grammatical man"	human use of grammar Grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,... , language Language Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication... , Frank Palmer 1971
Homo imitans	"imitating man"	human capability of learning and adapting by imitation, Andrew N. Meltzoff Andrew N. Meltzoff Andrew N. Meltzoff is an American psychologist and an internationally recognized expert on infant and child development. His discoveries about infant imitation greatly advanced the scientific understanding of early cognition, personality and brain development.-Background:Meltzoff received a B.A.... 1988, Jürgen Lethmate 1992
Homo discens	"learning man"	human capability to learn and adapt, Heinrich Roth Heinrich Roth Heinrich Roth was a missionary and pioneering Sanskrit scholar.- Life :... , Theodor Wilhelm
Homo educanus	"to be educated"	human need of education before reaching maturity, Heinrich Roth Heinrich Roth Heinrich Roth was a missionary and pioneering Sanskrit scholar.- Life :... 1966
Homo investigans	"investigating man"	human curiosity and capability to learn by deduction, Werner Luck 1976
Homo excentricus	"not self-centered"	human capability for objectivity Objectivity (science) Objectivity in science is a value that informs how science is practiced and how scientific truths are created. It is the idea that scientists, in attempting to uncover truths about the natural world, must aspire to eliminate personal biases, a priori commitments, emotional involvement, etc... , human self-reflection Human self-reflection Human self-reflection is the capacity of humans to exercise introspection and the willingness to learn more about their fundamental nature, purpose and essence. The earliest historical records demonstrate the great interest which humanity has had in itself... , theory of mind Theory of mind Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one's own... , Helmuth Plessner Helmuth Plessner Helmuth Plessner was a German philosopher and sociologist, and a primary advocate of "philosophical anthropology" .He was Chairman from 1953-1959 of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie.... 1928
Homo metaphysicus	"metaphysical man"	Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal... 1819
Homo religiosus	"religious man"	Alister Hardy Alister Hardy Sir Alister Clavering Hardy, FRS was an English marine biologist, expert on zooplankton and marine ecosystems...
Homo viator	"pilgrim man"	man as on his way towards finding God, Gabriel Marcel Gabriel Marcel Gabriel Honoré Marcel was a French philosopher, a leading Christian existentialist, and author of about 30 plays.He focused on the modern individual's struggle in a technologically dehumanizing society... 1945
Homo patiens	"suffering man"	human capability for suffering Suffering Suffering, or pain in a broad sense, is an individual's basic affective experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with harm or threat of harm. Suffering may be qualified as physical or mental. It may come in all degrees of intensity, from mild to intolerable. Factors of duration and... , Victor Frankl 1988
Homo laborans	"working man"	human capability for division of labour Division of labour Division of labour is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and likeroles. Historically an increasingly complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialisation... , specialization and expertise in craftsmanship and, Theodor Litt 1948
Animal laborans	"laboring animal"	Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
Animal symbolicum	"symbolizing animal"	use of symbol Symbol A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for... s, Ernst Cassirer Ernst Cassirer Ernst Cassirer was a German philosopher. He was one of the major figures in the development of philosophical idealism in the first half of the 20th century... 1944
Animal rationabile	"animal capable of rationality"	Carl von Linné 1760, Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment.... 1798
Homo socius	"social man"	man as a social being. Inherent to humans as long as they have not lived entirely in isolation. Peter Berger Peter L. Berger Peter Ludwig Berger is an Austrian-born American sociologist well known for his work, co-authored with Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge .-Biography:... & Thomas Luckmann Thomas Luckmann Thomas Luckmann is a German sociologist of Slovene origin. His main areas of research are the sociology of communication, Sociology of knowledge, sociology of religion, and the philosophy of science.- Biography :... in The Social Construction of Reality (1966).
Homo poetica	"man the meaning maker"	what separates man from other animals is his unrelenting search for meaning and significance. From Ernest Becker, in The Structure of Evil: "An Essay on the Unification of the Science of Man".
Pan narrans	"storytelling ape"	man not only as an intelligent species, but also as the only one who tells stories. From The Science of Discworld II: The Globe The Science of Discworld II: The Globe The Science of Discworld II: The Globe is a 2002 book written by the novelist Terry Pratchett and the popular science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen... by Terry Pratchett Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels... , Ian Stewart Ian Stewart (mathematician) Ian Nicholas Stewart FRS is a professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick, England, and a widely known popular-science and science-fiction writer. He is the first recipient of the , awarded jointly by the LMS and the IMA for his work on promoting mathematics.-Biography:Stewart was born... and Jack Cohen Jack Cohen (scientist) Jack Cohen, FIBiol is a British reproductive biologist also known for his popular science books and involvement with science fiction.-Life:...
Pan sapiens or Homo troglodytes	"man the ape"	man as a member genus Pan.
Homo mendax	"lying man"	man with the ability to tell lies. Fernando Vallejo Fernando Vallejo Fernando Vallejo Rendón is a novelist, filmmaker and essayist, born in Colombia. He obtained Mexican nationality in 2007.Vallejo was born and raised in Medellín, though he left his hometown early in life... , Colombian writer
Homo technologicus	"technological man"	According to science historian Yves Gingras, the world in which we live is a product of human reason Reason Reason is a term that refers to the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, ... . It is the combination of technique and reason which gives birth to technology Technology Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;... . Homo sapiens being homo faber Homo faber Homo faber is a philosophical concept articulated by Hannah Arendt and Max Scheler that refers to humans as controlling the environment through tools... , everything that surrounds him can only be artificial that is to say craftwork Handicraft Handicraft, more precisely expressed as artisanic handicraft, sometimes also called artisanry, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It is a traditional main sector of craft. Usually the term is applied to traditional means... . In this precise sense, the human animal is necessarily counter-nature, anti-nature Antinaturalism (sociology) Antinaturalism is a view in sociology which states that the natural world and the social world are different. It is closely related to antipositivism, and is the opposite of sociological naturalism.... , the most paradoxical product of Nature Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general... . He has become, in sum, a homo technologicus.
Homo sanguinis	"Bloody man"	A comment on human foreign relations and the increasing ability of man to wage war by anatomist W. M. Cobb in the Journal of the National Medical Association National Medical Association The National Medical Association is the largest and oldest national organization representing African American physicians and their patients in the United States... in 1969 and 1975.

See also