Menschenbild: An Important Factor for our Identity

Similar to the concept of _Weltanschauung_, the related concept of _Menschenbild_ seems to be a specific German concept that is hard to translate: it means an individual person’s, a group of people’s or a society’s understanding of the human being as such. This paper aims at introducing this latter concept, which plays an important role in German public, political, and academic discourses, thus making plausible the claim that every one of us has a _Menschenbild_ and that _Menschenbilder_ are very important and influential factors, in particular for our identity as humans. After elaborating on a definition of the concept, the paper explains what kinds of beliefs typically belong to a _Menschenbild_, introduces the differentiation between individual, group-specific and societal _Menschenbilder_, explains how they are embedded in our everyday life, gives a short description of their most important practical functions, explains how _Menschenbilder_ are embedded in cultural systems, and explores their deep impact on society and human individuals.