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Theories of a unique humanity have evolved enormously throughout history, with a significant tendency in recent times to diminish our claim to be truly distinctive. Still, most scientists and philosophers do believe that we are, in some sense, different from any other lifeform on the planet. But what sets us apart? According to Jesse Prinz, distinguished professor of philosophy at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), our unique position among animals is rooted in a particular emotion that has long been overlooked: the emotion of wonder.
Interviewer: Nigel Warburton
Producer: Kellen Quinn
Editor: Adam D’Arpino
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Language and linguistics
Why Susan listens to recordings of herself speaking a language she no longer remembers
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Ethics
Plato saw little value in privacy. How do his ideas hold up in the information age?
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Biology
Starlings swoosh like brushstrokes across the sky in this dazzling short
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Engineering
From simple motors to levitating trains – how design shapes innovation
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Home
How an artist transformed a dilapidated hunting lodge into a house made of dreams
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Animals and humans
Are zoos and natural history museums born of a desire to understand, or to control?
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Family life
The migrants missing in Mexico, and the mothers who won’t stop searching for them
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Virtues and vices
Why Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith were divided on the virtues of vanity
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Ecology and environmental sciences
The tree frog die-off that sparked a global mystery – and revealed a dark truth
15 minutes