We should care for human beings, not the abstraction ‘humankind’

 

“The idea that life’s meaning requires us to give up our own individuality is an interesting one. In this case, however, though it is possible to see the psychological attraction of the kind of transcendence promised, it is much harder to see why the species is of such value that we should give our all to it. The species may be something that transcends us, this does not necessarily make it more valuable than us. So making the object of our concern the species would seem to be misguided, for what is valuable about the species is not to be found at the level of the species itself, but at the level of its individual members. We should care for human beings, not the abstraction ‘humankind’.”