Session 12. Can we be constituted as humanity?

Humanity is affected by global challenges that are becoming more and more interconnected (climate crisis, pandemics, displacement of people, wars) and are usually dealt with by means of joint initiatives, science, and key values such as dignity, equality, justice, and caring for the planet. In order to find a way to overcome these antinomies and build ourselves up as humanity, we must understand what makes us essentially human. Tomás Marqués, based on evolutionary biology, will enlighten us regarding his discoveries in primates. For his part, the philosopher Víctor Gómez Pin will share his perspective of this 21^st century and its potential as regards technology and knowledge. We must take into account the fact that changes in society take place over very long periods –such as the change from the Middle Ages to the modern world– and what is new is hard to see in the case of us who are immersed in this transition, which will, perhaps, lead to a new humanity.

• Víctor Gómez Pin, philosopher, Emeritus Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and researcher at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris
• Tomàs Marquès i Bonet, evolutionary biologist, director of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Barcelona
• Marcela Jabbaz, doctor in Sociology and professor at the University of Valencia, vice dean of Equality, Culture and Participation of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the UV