What is the human? Eric Gans and the structure of the hypothesis

This chapter identifies and then analyses the key dimensions of the originary hypothesis proposed by Eric Gans and the writers of generative anthropology. In the course of this analysis, it argues that some are weighted more heavily than others, and indeed, that one group of ideas follows from the initial claim about the original of language per se and especially, the reasons for the genesis of language in appropriative and competitive mimetic behaviours. The article concludes by addressing potential objections to the originary hypothesis.