Views of Human Nature

The Selfishness View Sigmund Freud, Thomas Hobbes

and Morritz Schlick believed that humans are basically self-interested

Sigmund Freud 1856-1939 “Men are not gentile, friendly creatures

wishing for love, who simply defend themselves if they are attacked, but …. A powerful measure of desire for aggressiveness has to be reckoned of their instinctual endowment”

Freud’s view was based on his theory of EGO, ID and SUPEREGO

Freud’s Model ID – the drive to fulfill all desires of a

physical nature ; exists in the unconscious Superego – the conscience ; the opposition

to the Id. Also exists on the unconscious level

Ego – the balance between id and superego ; the conscious component of the individual

Conclusion : we are not free …. We are bound by the decisions that our desires decide to throw into our consciousness

Thomas Hobbes 1588-1679 , a materialist “Leviathan” his greatest work Humans are motivated by the anti-

social desire for power over others “… I put for a general inclination of

all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power that ceasest only in death.”

Morritz Schlick 1882-1936, founder of Logical

Positivism Argued for psychological egoism …

human beings are so constituted that they always act out of self interest

Even a seemingly heroic act is performed on the basis of personal gratification

The Rationalist View The Rationalist View claims :1. Humans have a self, the “I” that

exists in the physical body2. The self is spiritual and exists

after the death of the body3. The self is conscious and rational Sometimes referred to as Dualism

Plato 427-347 BC Claimed that the human is made up of distinct

parts …. Rational “reason,” and non-rational “appetites” and “emotions”

Reason = the human capacity for thinking and reflecting

Appetites = physical desire Emotion- can be controlled by reason or

uncontrolled, depending on habit It is the battle between reason and appetite that

constitutes the life of the individual … when reason wins happiness is achieved

Rene Descartes 1596-1650 “I think therefore I am.” … I cannot

conceive of myself without thinking Thinking is part of the essence of

the soul In the rationalist view we see

ourselves as reasoning, free, moral beings that have an immaterial soul

Western Religious View

According to the Judeo-Christian tradition humans are made in the image and likeness of God

Humans are animated bodies … they have a spark of the divine in them

Their life goal is to love and serve God Ancient Jews did not subscribe to body : soul

dualism of Plato View shapes the development of Western

Civilization …both positively & negatively

Creation Narratives Two Creation Narratives in Genesis :1. Genesis 1:1-2:3

Made in God’s image ; Dominion over creation

2. Genesis 2:4-2:25 Made from dust ; lonely

Creation is essentially good ! ; humans introduce evil through free choice

St. Augustine 354-430 CE

Adopted a lot of Plato’s teachings Believed the immaterial self could

control it’s desires (spirit > flesh) Humans are composed of reason and

will which allow us to know the truth about God and choose to love God

Humans are free and responsible for our moral choices

Evil is the product of human refusal to love and serve God

The Scientific View The scientific view claims that human

beings and the physical world can be explained through observable physical and chemical phenomina

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) rejects notion that there are qualities that are uniquely human …we have evolved from apes

Associated with “Determinism” … causal laws govern everything in the universe …humans are essentially not free

Reductionism Complex processes like life and

thought can be explained completely in terms of simpler physical & chemical processes

….Thomas Hobbes …“For what is the heart but a spring, and the nerves, but so many strings, and the joints but so many wheels”

There is no immaterial mind or soul

Behavioralism A school of psychology associated with

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) that restricts the study of human nature to what can be observed

Human beings are “an assembled organic machine ready to run”

He believed that all human behavior could be predicted based on contingencies of re-inforcement

Functionalism

D.M. Armstrong 1926- Holds that mental activities are to be

explained in terms of inputs and outputs Related to the Computer View of Alan

Turing (1912-1954) …father of artificial intelligence … if a computer can recreate human consciousness we are essentially computers

Existentialism A 20th century philosophy that denies

any essential human nature Each of us creates our own essence

through free action Key Figures : Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-

1980), Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Victor Frankl (1905-1997)

“We are our choices” … we are free to make ourselves whatever we want …rejects determinism !

The Feminist View Western Philosophy inherently “sexist”

dating back to Plato For Plato …. Soul/Reason >

Desires/Emotions Aristotle associates Soul/ Reason with

the male and Desires/Emotions with the female

This distinction influences Judeo-Christian tradition

The No-Self View The no-self view is based on the

notion that the individual self does not exist and that the delusion that it does is the source of all pain and suffering

Siddhartha Gautama a.k.a. “The Buddha” 563-483 B.C. Did not believe in the self or the existence of a

soul because … All things are aggregates composed of elements

that inevitably change over time The universe is in a constant state of flux – since

nothing is permanent, a “self” cannot be permanent

The idea of a self is evidence of the “mind clouded over by impure desires … that stubbornly insists in thinking “me” and mine

David Hume 1711-1776 We are a bundle of perceptions with our

inner experience being one of flux and change

Genuine knowledge depends on sensory experience

Since we cannot perceive a “self” it is not real