The question, what does it mean to be human, is as old as philosophy and the sciences. Furthermore, from the very beginning of human history this question for human nature was inextricably interwoven with the question for the nature of nature. A multiperspective, transdisciplinary approach to these questions has to emphasise and structure the discourse between such different disciplines as socio-biology, morphology, evolutionary theory, ethics, philosophy of sciences and epistemology. On the basis of such considerations the Europäische Akademie organised in spring 1999 the symposium On Human Nature. Biological Approaches and Philosophical Reflections. The main results of this symposium, complemented by the approaches of invited authors, are presented in the current volume of the series Wissenschaftsethik und Technikfolgenbeurteilung. Thereby, the authors and the editors hope to invoke a comprehensive and inclusive discussion on a modern "concept of humankind".