Intimesofconflictsandcrises,anargumentinsistingonthehumaneiscommonlyheard.Inwars,voicesdemandingahumanetreatmentofprisoners–asdecreedbytheGenevaConvention–willberaised.Oppositiontosocialinjusticemaybeframedinacollectedcallforahumanesociety.Eveneducationalsystemsmayinsistonhavingahumaneperspectiveamongitsleadingcauses.Wordsreferringtoman–humane,butalsohumanistic,humanitarian,evenhumanity–thustakeonstatusofidealsformankind.Man,incommonandlegalspeech,thusbecomestheconceptualmarkerofhisownperfection.Thesubjectofthisbookistheearlyhistoryofthislinguisticfeatureandinparticularitsargumentativeuse,fromitsstartingpointtillearlymoderntimes.
