Thanks to our capacity for self-reflection, we human beings can recognize our deficiencies on all levels of our being. We are finite, limited, mutable, contingent, and imperfect. In almost all philosophies and religions, this human self-perception contrasts with an ontological realm, free of these limitations, seen as being infinite, unlimited, immutable, absolute, and perfect.
The concept of humans as “deficient beings,” introduced into philosophical anthropology by A. Gehlen, is based on comparison to animals. It denotes the disadv…