Anthropomorphosis: The “Howl” of Man’s Clones

Abstract

This paper argues that we are all cloners. Bound by our innate predisposition to process the world around us in symbols, we clone our own image onto everything else, and experience the universe on those human terms, in a referential comprehension known as anthropomorphosis. Anthropomorphosis is a reference, a cloning process that structures how we think about ourselves and the surrounding world. The source experience is substituted for a host of ideals, forming the category of Man. The label of Man proves incomplete for the infinitude of human existence, and the naming process enacts a separation that enables exclusion from the category of human, which translates into disposability. Allen Ginsberg’s poem, “Howl,” illustrates the complex struggles that are driven by this separation, an endeavor antitheticalto anthropomorphosis. The experiential and participatory essence of human experience, acknowledged even by recent developments in quantum physics, suggests a reimagination of anthropomorphosis.