human constructs

Ideas made up and carried out by humans for purpose of clarification, that actually don't exist.

Money is a human construct because it is given value, and without its given value it wouldn't be worth anything.

Human Constructs make up man things...

by Aspekt December 28, 2006

Theory of Constructed Humanity

The radical historical observation that who and what is included in the category "human" has been repeatedly constructed and redrawn. Ancient Greeks constructed humanity as excluding barbarians; Enlightenment thinkers constructed it around "rationality," often excluding colonized peoples; modern law constructs it around the moment of birth. "Humanity" is not a biological fact with fixed moral implications, but a moral club whose membership rules we argue over and rebuild.

*Example: "In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court constructed Dred Scott as non-citizen, ruling Black people could not be part of the American political 'humanity.' The Theory of Constructed Humanity shows that such rulings aren't just wrong applications of a fixed idea; they are active, violent acts of construction—drawing the boundary of the human community to exclude and dominate. Who counts as fully human is the most consequential construction site of all."*

by Abzu Land January 31, 2026