Theories of Human Nature

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Theories of Human Nature

Over the ages human nature, man’s image of himself, has been one of the most engrossing and mystifying human concerns. For generations the question of human nature has been considered largely, if not primarily, a problem of morals, on which theological statements have been accepted as important. The aim of this paper is to examine the essentialist theory of human nature and the questions that arise from it, such as, Is there such a thing as an essential "human nature" which transcends history, culture, race and gender?

So much depends on our conception of human nature: for individuals, the meaning and purpose of our lives.

There are many different theories as to human nature.  One of these theories exists under the thoughts of a prominent philosopher, and founder of Psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. Freud's view of human nature is generally consistent with the experience of capitalist competition and its adjunct philosophy at the extreme, Social Darwinism. The inevitable tendency of human motivation is toward competition. Inevitably struggles ensue and yield a "survival of the fittest" dominance hierarchy. Civilization with its manners, cooperation, sympathy for those suffering, and altruism is a useful achievement, but it is only a "thin sugar coating" over our truer instinctual essential nature. Facing harsh truth is a cornerstone of psychoanalytic theory and treatment. Thus, the clinical goal is to enhance the accuracy of the executive agency of the mental apparatus, the ego, in its perception of itself and the world, by overcoming resistance to swallowing this bitter pill and facing the harsh animalistic (instinctual) reality.  The Freudian view of human nature had tremendous consequences on each and every aspect in our psychology. We are the slaves of our instincts - Our psyche is a battlefield where unconscious drives fight among each other and with the ego, and it is almost a wonder that some accomplish mental health at all. Our only way to control our nature to some extent is reason.1

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Humanists and socialists are simply romantic "nicefiers" who refuse to take their unpleasant but necessary medicine. While Freud was sympathetic to their goals, his psychology was antithetical. As he stated in Civilization and its Discontents:

As we already know, the problem before us is how to get rid of the greatest hindrance to civilization - namely, the constitutional inclination of human beings to be aggressive towards one another. . . I too think it quite certain that a real change in the relations of human beings to possessions would be of more help in this direction than any ethical commands; ...

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