Rethinking Human in Relationality and Holism with Mary Midgley

This article introduces the relational and holistic philosophy of Mary Midgley to Turkish academic literature. Midgley challenges longstanding dichotomies in philosophy and science, arguing that many philosophical problems stem from outdated conceptual frameworks. She redefines philosophy as a practice of “plumbing,” aimed at uncovering foundational assumptions and asking the right questions. Focusing on contemporary philosophical and scientific issues, she identifies reductionism, fatalism, and individualistic atomism as core problems. According to Midgley, speculative science—emerging as science replaces religion as the dominant authority—produces metaphysical beliefs that lead to existential disorientation. In response, she proposes relational and multilayered sciences to understand life in its entirety. She criticizes this modern framework for severing humans from their biological roots, treating them as if they were an “alien species,” and introduces the concept of beastliness to reveal how historically constructed symbolic beliefs about nonhuman animals obscure biological continuity. Contrary to views emphasizing competition, she highlights patterns of empathy and care in social animals, suggesting that morality arises from our evolutionary background. Midgley repositions the human as part of a “mixed community” that includes other animals and extends moral responsibility to this broader social field. Ultimately, this ethical scope reaches the Earth itself, symbolized by Gaia. Through Midgley’s concepts, the article invites a reconsideration of human–nature and human–nonhuman animal relations, advocating for an ontological and ethical sensibility that transcends modern individualistic moral theories.