The Denigration of Matter?:Hans Jonas, Gnosticism and the Problem of the Hyletic Human

The question of anthropocentrism is of central concern to a wide array of newer theoretical traditions concerned with re-thinking the relation between man and nature: New materialism, post-humanism, new animism etc. Countermeasures to anthropocentrism are frequently found in re-consideration of the materiality of man and in emphasizing the status of the human being as yet another configuration of matter within a flat ontology. My paper deals with the German philosopher Hans Jonas, who in many ways pre-figures this current orientation, all the while maintaining a sense of the uniqueness of man. <br/> I argue that we see in Jonas’ engagement with Gnosticism the formulation of a natural philosophy which 1) sees the distinguishing attributes of the human being as distributed across the material world in general, yet 2) maintains the structure of an ancient Greek, pre-gnostic conception of nature as scala naturae. My paper will show how Jonas’ polemical engagement with Gnosticism generates a critique of anthropocentrism which does not efface the distinction of the human being. We may thus find resources for re-evaluating the supposition that the elevation of the human entails a denigration of nature. <br/>