Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind; however, this usage has proven to be controversial in that there is dispute as to whether or not such an essence actually exists.
Arguments about human nature have been a central focus of philosophy for centuries and the concept continues to provoke lively philosophical debate. While both concepts are distinct from one another, discussions regarding human nature are typically related to those regarding the comparative importance of genes and environment in human development (i.e., nature versus nurture). Accordingly, the concept also continues to play a role in academic fields, such as both the natural and the social sciences, and philosophy, in which various theorists claim to have yielded insight into human nature. Human nature is traditionally contrasted with human attributes that vary among societies, such as those associated with specific cultures.
The concept of nature as a standard by which to make judgments is traditionally said to have begun in Greek philosophy, at least in regard to its heavy influence on Western and Middle Eastern languages and perspectives.Gilden, Hilail, ed. 1989. "Progress or Return." In An Introduction to Political Philosophy: Ten Essays by Leo Strauss. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. By late antiquity and medieval times, the particular approach that came to be dominant was that of Aristotle's teleology, whereby human nature was believed to exist somehow independently of individuals, causing humans to simply become what they become. This, in turn, has been understood as also demonstrating a special connection between human nature and divinity, whereby human nature is understood in terms of final and formal causes. More specifically, this perspective believes that nature itself (or a nature-creating divinity) has intentions and goals, including the goal for humanity to live naturally. Such understandings of human nature see this nature as an "idea", or "form" of a human.Aristotle, Metaphysics, 1078b . However, the existence of this invariable and metaphysical human nature is subject of much historical debate, continuing into modern times.
Against Aristotle's notion of a fixed human nature, the relative malleability of man has been argued especially strongly in recent centuries—firstly by early modernists such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In his Emile, or On Education, Rousseau wrote: "We do not know what our nature permits us to be."Saunders, Jason Lewis. 1995. "Western Philosophical Schools and Doctrines: Ancient and Medieval Schools: Sophists: Particular Doctrines: Theoretical issues." Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011. Since the early 19th century, such thinkers as Darwin, Freud, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre, as well as structuralists and postmodernists more generally, have also sometimes argued against a fixed or innate human nature.
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution has particularly changed the shape of the discussion, supporting the proposition that the ancestors of modern humans were not like humans today. As in much of modern science, such theories seek to explain with little or no recourse to metaphysical causation. They can be offered to explain the origins of human nature and its underlying mechanisms, or to demonstrate capacities for change and diversity which would arguably violate the concept of a fixed human nature.
Classical Greek philosophy Philosophy in classical Greece is the ultimate origin of the Western conception of the nature of things.
According to Aristotle, the philosophical study of human nature itself originated with Socrates, who turned philosophy from study of the heavens to study of the human things.Aristotle's Metaphysics Though leaving no written works, Socrates is said to have studied the question of how a person should best live. It is clear from the works of his students, Plato and Xenophon, and also from the accounts of Aristotle (Plato's student), that Socrates was a rationalist and believed that the best life and the life most suited to human nature involved reasoning. The Socratic school was the dominant surviving influence in philosophical discussion in the Middle Ages, amongst Islamic, Christian, and Jewish philosophers.
The human soul in the works of Plato and Aristotle has a nature that is divided in a specifically human way. One part is specifically human and rational, being further divided into (1) a part which is rational on its own; and (2) a spirited part which can understand reason. Other parts of the soul are home to desires or passions similar to those found in animals. In both Aristotle and Plato's ideas, spiritedness (thumos) is distinguished from the other passions ().Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics I & VI; Plato, Republic IV. The proper function of the "rational" was to rule the other parts of the soul, helped by spiritedness. By this account, using one's reason is the best way to live, and philosophers are the highest types of humans.
Aristotle Aristotle, Plato's most famous student, made some of the most famous and influential statements about human nature. In his works, apart from using a similar scheme of a divided human soul, some clear statements about human nature are made: In contrast to other animals, humans have reason or language (logos) in their soul (psyche). According to Aristotle this means that the work (ergos) of a human is the actualization (energeia) of the soul in accordance with reason.Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, I, 1098a. Based upon this reasoning, the medieval followers of Aristotle formulated the doctrine that man is the "Rational Animal". Man is a conjugal animal: An animal that is born to couple in adulthood. In doing so, man builds a household (oikos) and, in more successful cases, a clan or small village run upon patriarchal lines.Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics VIII. 1162a; Aristotle, Politics 1252a. However, humans naturally tend to connect their villages into cities (poleis), which are more self-sufficient and complete. Man is a political animal: An animal with an innate propensity to develop more complex communities (i.e. the size of a city or town), with systems of law-making and a division of labor. This type of community is different in kind from a large family, and requires the use of human reason. Cities should not be run by a patriarch, like a village.Aristotle, Politics 1252b. Man is a mimetic animal: Man loves to use his imagination, and not only to make laws and run town councils: "[W]e enjoy looking at accurate likenesses of things which are themselves painful to see, obscene beasts, for instance, and corpses.… [The] reason why we enjoy seeing likenesses is that, as we look, we learn and infer what each is, for instance, 'that is so and so.Aristotle, Poetics 1148b .
For Aristotle, reason is not only what is most special about humanity compared to other animals, but it is also what we were meant to achieve at our best. Much of Aristotle's description of human nature is still influential today. However, the particular teleological idea that humans are "meant" or intended to be something has become much less popular in modern times.Newman, William Lambert, ed. 1887. The Politics of Aristotle: With an Introduction, Two Prefatory Essays and Notes Critical and Explanatory. Clarendon Press. Pp. 189–190.
Theory of four causes For the Socratics, human nature, and all natures, are metaphysical concepts. Aristotle developed the standard presentation of this approach with his theory of four causes, whereby every living thing exhibits four aspects, or "causes:"
matter (hyle); form (eidos); effect (kinoun); and end (telos).
For example, an oak tree is made of plant cells (matter); grows from an acorn (effect); exhibits the nature of oak trees (form); and grows into a fully mature oak tree (end). According to Aristotle, human nature is an example of a formal cause. Likewise, our 'end' is to become a fully actualized human being (including fully actualizing the mind). Aristotle suggests that the human intellect (, noûs), while "smallest in bulk", is the most significant part of the human psyche and should be cultivated above all else.Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics X The cultivation of learning and intellectual growth of the philosopher is thereby also the happiest and least painful life.
Chinese philosophy Confucianism
Human nature is a central question in Chinese philosophy.Tang, Paul C., and N. Basafa. 1988. "Human Nature in Chinese Thought: A Wittgensteinian Treatment." Proceedings of the 12th International Wittgenstein Symposium 1988. International Wittgenstein Symposium. From the Song dynasty, the theory of innate goodness of human beings became dominant in Confucianism.Yen, Hung-Chung. 2015. "Human Nature and Learning in Ancient China." Pp. 19–43 in Education as Cultivation in Chinese Culture. Singapore: Springer. It is in contrast to the theory of innate evil advocated by Xunzi.
Mencius Mencius argues that human nature is good.Mencius, "Duke Wen of Teng I", 1. quote: 「孟子道性善，言必稱堯舜。」. James Legge's translation: Mencius discoursed [...] how the nature of man is good, and when speaking, always made laudatory reference to Yao and Shun."" He understands human nature as the innate tendency to an ideal state that's expected to be formed under the right conditions. Therefore, humans have the capacity to be good, even though they are not all good.
According to Mencian theory, human nature contains four beginnings () of morality. It consists of a sense of compassion that develops into benevolence (), a sense of shame and disdain that develops into righteousness (), a sense of respect and courtesy that develops into propriety (), and a sense of right and wrong that develops into wisdom (). The beginnings of morality are characterized by both affective motivations and intuitive judgments, such as what's right and wrong, deferential, respectful, or disdainful.
In Mencius' view, goodness is the result of the development of innate tendencies toward the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and propriety. The tendencies are manifested in moral emotions for every human being. Reflection () upon the manifestations of the four beginnings leads to the development of virtues. It brings recognition that virtue takes precedence over satisfaction, but a lack of reflection inhibits moral development. In other words, humans have a constitution comprising emotional predispositions that direct them to goodness.