Human Nature

Category: Fields of research

Human nature refers to specific traits and characteristics unique to humans as individuals or to the human species as a collective. In biological and social sciences, there have been several types of debates concerning human nature. The first debate is whether all humans share the same nature. Racist theories propose that different races possess different natures, while the majority of modern scientists see human nature as universal, with no discernible differences between different populations. The second debate concerns the question of what differentiates humans and their nature from other animals, especially are close extent biological relatives - apes. Some of the characteristics unique to humans, among all living animals, are: use of language and symbols, artistic expression, abstract thinking and imagination, religious and magical thinking, and technology.

The third debate, which is still ongoing, is whether there is a difference between the nature of are close extinct relatives – Neanderthals and Denisovans – and humans. While Neanderthal technology was similar to the Paleolithic technology of humans, some authors hypothesize that Neanderthals lacked language, the use of symbols, artistic expression, abstract thinking, and imagination. Others claim that at the time Neanderthals died out, some 40,000 years ago, differences between them and humans were much smaller. The fourth debate concerning human nature deals with sex and gender differences. While some authors, especially sociobiologists, claim that males and females exert differences in their instincts and mental abilities, Other authors, i.e. Margaret Mead, argue that Gender, gender roles, and gender systems are a product of culture and its practices, and not a product of innate difference in biological nature of sexes.

The fifth debate related to human nature concerns the question of what role instincts have in shaping human nature. Sociobiologists and other similar approaches claim that a considerable part of human nature is instinctual, while others claim that culture and socialization completely shape are nature (famous nature vs nurture debate). First group claims that human nature is evolutionary adapted and that culture can only be built on that instinctive nature, while the other group believes that plasticity and adaptability are the true qualities of our nature. Somewhere in between those two opposing views are theories of human psychological development, like those of H. G. Mead, Freud, or Erikson.

The sixth debate about human nature takes three forms: the optimistic view, the pessimistic view, and the neutral view. The optimistic view of human nature is mostly associated with Rousseau and anarchists, who claim that humans are, in their essence, good and moral, but the state, and its institutions (police, law, churches, private property, etc.) are what make them immoral. The opposite view, advocated by conservatives, sees human nature as essentially selfish, egoistic, and prone to crime and aggression, so the authority of the state and its institutions is needed to regulate human behavior and create a stable society. The neutral view posits that human nature is neither good nor bad (at least on average) and that culture and socialization can promote and accustom people to various moral systems.

References:

Coleman, Cooley. Human Nature and the Social Order (1902);

Dewey. Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology (1922);

Dilthey. Selected Works, Volume I: Introduction to the Human Sciences (1989);

- Selected Works, Volume II: Understanding the Human World (2010);

- Selected Works, Volume IV: Hermeneutics and the Study of History (2010);

Fromm. Escape from Freedom (1941);

- Man for Himself (1947);

- The Art of Loving (1956);

- Marx's Concept of Man (1961);

- The Nature of Man (1968);

- The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (1973);