Introduction: The Invention of Humanism and the Reconfiguration of the Concept of Nature in the 19th Century

This introduction takes stock of the criticisms levelled at the concept of ‘humanism’ and the Western humanistic tradition, questioning the possibility of conceiving a non-anthropocentric humanism that is therefore capable of engaging in dialogue with environmentalism. With this in mind, the text briefly reconstructs the current debate on humanism and the genealogy of the term in the 19th century, showing how, in that century, Marxism and Darwinism called into question the traditional idea of ‘nature’ and led humanism itself to confront a new vision of the connection and interaction between human beings and other living beings.