Human Nature
Throughout history intelligent human beings have tried to better understand exactly what it is that makes people human. Some of the questions that are most frequently asked has to do with a supposed universal human nature, a basic idea which somehow is a part of all people regardless of culture, ethnicity, gender, religion, or whatever other divisive characterization that can be thought of. Human nature refers to the ability to think, the feel, to act and react, all the things which elevate people from the rest of the animal kingdom. Thinkers of all ages have tried to clearly explain and solidify the intangible idea of human nature. First these philosophers have questioned whether or not human nature exists and then they further ask whether human nature is inherently good or if it is inherently evil. To be kind and decent to other human beings, is it part of our…...

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Works Cited

Ames, Roger T., and Henry Rosemont, Jr., trans. The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical

Translation. A New Translation Based on the Dingzhou Fragments and Other Recent Archaeological Finds. Classics of Ancient China. New York: Ballantine, 1998. Print.

Bevir, Mark. Encyclopedia of Political Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2010. Print.

Cua, Antonio S. "Human Nature, Ritual, and History: Studies in Xunzi and Chinese Philosophy."

Human Nature
Book Summary

Jeeves, Malcolm. (Editor) From Cells to Souls -- and Beyond. New York: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.

According to Michael Steel in the book edited Malcolm Jeeves entitled From Cells to Souls -- and Beyond, the most critical moral and ethical debate of our time is the relationship of the human being as a 'self' or 'soul' (depending on one's preferred cultural, psychological or religious term for describing one's understanding of one's status as a human person) and the implications of scientific development upon the conception of what is a person. "When an American President and a British prime minister feel moved to issue almost simultaneously statements on the ethics and regulation of human cloning, there can be little doubt as to the breadth and depth of public interest in the topic." (1)

Cloning and other research done into the nature of human genetics challenges the idea of the…...

Human Nature
The Traditional estern view of human nature has its roots in the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, both of whom espoused the primacy of reason over passion. Those views in turn impacted the Judeo-Christian belief systems. Among the harshest critics of the Traditional estern view of human nature are feminists, who feel that "the rationalist view, and the Judeo-Christian religious view based on it, are sexist," (101). This accusation is primarily based on the commonly-held belief in the association of males with reason, females with emotions. Underlying this connection is an assumption that reason is inherently superior to emotions; hence men are considered to be superior to women. They are farther removed from the "lower," animal life forms, whereas because women embody passions and bodily pleasures, they are closer in nature to the animal kingdom. The feminist critique of the Traditional estern view is twofold: one, reason is not…...

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Works Cited

Fromm quote from "Issues of Sustainable Living." Online at http://www.livesustainably.net/sustainable_living.html.

In this regard, Sayer advises that:
The distinctiveness [of bourgeois capitalism] lies as much in its organization of production. It is the continuous and rational employment of capital in a productive enterprise for the acquisition of profit, especially in industry which is characteristically modern. Bourgeois capitalism alone has produced a rational organization of labor, which nowhere previously existed.

Of course, not everyone has experienced the Horatio Alger "agged Dick" rags-to-riches story in the United States, but the fact remains that capitalism provides the opportunity for success in ways that are simply not made available in other economic systems, particularly those that are strictly controlled by the state. The pursuit of filthy lucre since the Industrial evolution made it possible to do pursue wealth in the United States in even more efficient ways, and Marx and like-minded theorists maintain that this has created a lopsided system wherein capitalism must be regarded with…...

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References

Akerlof, G.A. & Shiller, R.J. (2010). Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why it Matters for Global Capitalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton

Heilbroner, R.L. (1985). The Nature and Logic of Capitalism. New York W.W. Norton.

Kmiec, D.W. (2005, Fall). The Human Nature of Freedom and Identity - We Hold More Than

Random Thoughts. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 29(1), 33-35.

Human nature allows a person to demonstrate the cognitive, social and emotional behaviors that enable him or her to function in society and satisfy biological, psychological and emotional needs. The drive to display such behaviors is inborn but is shaped through environmental forces. New behaviors are learned and unlearned through experience and instruction. Functional human beings are able to read the situation, identify their goals and select from a repertoire the most appropriate behaviors to satisfy their needs. Psychodynamic theory explores how the conflict between inner drives and social expectations determine human behavior. edecision theory attempts to influence human behavior through an exploration of childhood experiences and identifying dysfunctional decisions to replace them with more productive and relevant ones. Finally, constructivist theory seeks to increase the individual's level of consciousness and personal responsibility to encourage functional behavior learning.
THEOETICAL INTEGATIVE FAMEWOK ON HUMAN NATUE AND BEHAVIO

A number of theories such as…...

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References

Brabender, V.A., Fallon, A.E., & Smolar, A.I. (2004). Essentials of group therapy. John Wiley & Sons.

Bronson, M.B. (2000). Self-Regulation in Early Childhood: Nature and Nurture. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Carducci, B.J. (2009). The psychology of personality. (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.

Cardwell, M, Flanagan, C. (2005). Psychology AS: The Complete Companion. Cheltenham, GL: Nelson Thornes.

Human Nature
A Comparison of Hobbes' and Plato's Philosophical Views

Trying to understand how a philosopher arrives at the reasoned opinions they put on paper is essential to also understanding what they wrote. The how is often a matter of the people they have borrowed from, but that can be an unreliable method of determining the origins of their philosophy also. Two in particular are difficult to judge using the influences they had because some of their ideas were relatively radical for the times in which they made them. Plato and Thomas Hobbes embraced philosophical stances that were different from others around them, and different from those who had come before. Both wrote extensively on human nature, which led to their ideas regarding justice and government, but they did so with an understanding of that was different from contemporaries. It is interesting to note then that some of their ideas meshed (to…...

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References

Annas, J. (1981). An introduction to Plato's "Republic." London: Clarendon Press.

Dietz, M.G. (1990). Thomas Hobbes and political theory. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.

Hobbes, T. (2010). The elements of law natural and politic. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing.

Hobbes, T. (1998). On the citizen, (Tuck, R. & Silverthorne, M. eds.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

He exemplifies by saying that anyone witnessing a child about to fall in a well would immediately turn to rescue the child without seeking any advantages in doing so. But while this position has been argued on the grounds that "such an example is not intended to prove that all men will actually take some action in such circumstances" (Allinson apud Chan 1996), Chan has defended Mencius by emphasizing that what the philosopher "intends to show in the child-falling-into-the-well example is that all men will at least be moved to compassion by such a sight" (Chan 1996). Chan further explains "that all we need to prove the statement is that we carry out some sort of self-examination or thought-experiment. Once we are convinced, that's the proof. e don't need the results of others to confirm our result. That's a case for science." (Chan 1996)
From the conversation above, we can…...

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Works Cited

Chan, C.W., 1996. Good and Evil in Chinese Philosophy, the Philosopher. Vol. LXXXIV. Available at: Last accessed 21 May 2013.http://www.the-philosopher.co.uk/good&evil.htm.

Creel, Herrlee G., 1953. Chinese Thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-Tung. London: The University of Chicago Press.

Hwong, P.H., 1979. What is Mencius' Theory of Human Nature. Philosophy East and West. 29 (2), 201-209.

Lai, W., 1984. Kau Tzu and Mencius on Mind: Analyzing a Paradigm Shift in Classical China. Philosophy East and West. 34 (2), 147-160.

Human Nature, Difference Between Man and Animal
ith respect to human nature, some philosopher argue that humans and animals are the same, while others reject it; but the strangest conflict is the conflict of Aristotelian and Thomist view point, which despite appearing to be the same are at lock heads with each other.

hen describing the impalpable in terms of the Aristotelian point-of-view, in regards to the visible dissimilarities among animals, contrary to human beings, it is highly noticeable how Aristotle characterized the nature of an animal to be the very basic sense of mobility guided by perception. Such simple observation mimics the exact nature of the animality that is definable on mother earth, where the animal builds an adumbration of her surrounding by the means of apprehension and the subsequent illustration together with her congenital calculative disposition. Such innate behavior allows the animal to avoid the detection from howling predators and…...

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Works Cited

Adler, Mortimer Jerome. The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes. New York: Fordham University Press, 1993.

Aquinas, Saint Thomas. On human nature. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1999.

Crowley, Charles B. And Peter A Redpath. Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy of measure and the international system of Units (SI system). Maryland: University Press of America, 1996.

Hoekema, Anthony. Created in God's Image. Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing, 1994.

On one hand this means that absolute freedom, on the other this means man is solely responsible for his existence and future. The third condition, despair, is a manifestation of will. One has the capacity and capability to decide whether or not to engage in any activity or take any action. Once there is no longer control or involvement, one should disengage (Flynn, 2010).
I believe man is neither inherently good nor evil. I think the nature of man is an individual thing and is essentially the product of environment (such as home, education, and culture) and genetics. There is certainly a propensity of evidence to support Hobbes assertion that people are essentially selfish when viewed in the light of Enron, Wall Street, Bernie Madoff and the like. However, there are also many people who look at the world through a more benevolent lens than Hobbes and are more content…...

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References

Flynn, T. (2010, spring). Jean-Paul Sartre. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. E.N. Zalta (ed.) Retrieved January 30, 2011, from  http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2010/entries/sartre/ 

Lloyd, S.A., & Sreedhar, S. (2009, spring). Hobbes's moral and political philosophy. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. E.N. Zalta (ed.) Retrieved January 30, 2011, from  http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2009/entries/hobbes-moral/ 

Robins, D. (2008, fall). Xunzi. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. E.N. Zalta (ed.) Retrieved January 30, 2011, from  http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/xunzi/ 

Shun, K.L. (2010, winter). Mencius. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. E.N. Zalta (ed.) Retrieved January 30, 2011, from  http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2010/entries/mencius/

In human beings dharma is extra and special." (p.1) rahmeshananada states that dharma is "restraint by moral rules" and that there are two types of dharma:
(1) pravrtitti-lakshana; and (2) nivritti-lakshana. (rahmeshananada, nd, p.1)

When one, observing the moral codes of conduct applicable to one's station in life and society performs actions for enjoyment (kama) and acquisition of wealth (artha) one is said to be following pravritti dharma." (rahmeshananada, nd, p.1) However, the time comes "when one gets disgusted with sense-enjoyments and acquisition of wealth and aspires for final emancipation (moksah)." (rahmeshananada, nd, p.1) It is at this time that the self embraces nivritti dharma "characterized by a renunciation of all worldly desires and selfish actions, and resorting to spiritual practice to attain liberation." (rahmeshananada, nd, p.1) When the man "…rises from animal to human level by accepting pravritti dharma, i.e. y observing social injunctions" then man is able to ascend…...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brahmeshananda, Swami (nd) The Nature of Man According to Hinduism. Nature of Man -- Understanding Hinduism. Online available at: http://www.hinduism.co.za/natureof.htm

Coward, H.G. (2008) The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Eastern and Western Thought. SUNY press 2008.

Hadley, M.L. (2001) The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice. SUNY Press, 2001.

Wallace, A. (2003) Buddhism & Science: Breaking New Ground. Columbia University Press 2003.

And, if one flees historical reality, then, is it not futile in that eventually it will catch up with us? As a "guest" of this world, then, what is the basic responsibility we have towards humanity? Daru chooses an isolated and ascetic life -- he flees society, but society catches up with him, and it is his decision that allows him to become -- more human. Of true importance in this work is that the original title in French, L'hote means two things -- the guest, or the host. Thus, the title refers to the struggle of both the prisoner and the schoolmaster; giving the reader a moral guide that is less than logical, but historically practical (Camus, 2000).
Gimpel the Fool is a Yiddish tale set down by Isaac Singer, and translated into English in 1953. In essence, it is representative of much of the Judaic culture -- the…...

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REFERENCES

Camus, A. (2000). The Guest. In Y. a. Cummings, The Terrible Power of A Minor Guilt (pp. 41-56). Syaracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

Pinker, S. (1989). Learnability and Cognition: The Acquisition of Argument Structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Roochnik, D. (2004). Retrieving the Ancients: An Introduction to Greek Philosophy.

New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Not that I judge it.(puts head in hands.beat. looks up) Listen, I don't want to be dead yet. Is there any way to...
Even though that dialogue of Nathan is ludicrous it reflects truth of modern moral realities, as quite often restrictions in communication are created by people themselves, so they suffer most from virtues of their own ethics. Love and snobbism cannot correlate, as love requires freedom of feelings and freedom of their expression. From the other side, human sexual desires have noting to do with animal instincts as they can be realized only if human communication and mutual sympathy are present. Puff learns these facts in order to get sexual satisfaction, as he needs to follow the rules established by human society; Lilia understands that hiding her real nature she suffers more turning into snob and hypocrite.

Human nature shows, that in modern world it's important not to lose…...

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"Human nature" shows, that in modern world it's important not to lose the unity with reality, in order to remain human, but not a senseless, puritan robot.

Kaufman, Charlie "HUMAN NATURE"  http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Human-Nature.html 

HUMAN NATURE

Upon arriving in London and informing Mrs. Strickland that her husband does not plan to return, the narrator notes: "now that I had seen Strickland in Paris it was difficult to imagine him in those surroundings. I thought it could hardly have failed to strike them that there was something incongruous in him." This shows the lengths which people are willing to go to fool themselves; Strickland lived for many years as a stockbroker, unwilling to see the "incongruities" of his personality to such a life until very recently. The two women in this scene, Mrs. Strickland and her sister, also fool themselves -- Mrs. Strickland imagines that no one could have been as supportive as her, whereas her sister refuses to believe that Strickland even wants to paint in the first place. Both women would rather construct a reality that fits their expectations than to absorb new information…...

He is unaware that it is his free will that is longing to escape. hile he is wise not to ignore his inner yearnings, he is oblivious on how to obtain his freedom. All he knows is that he is lost and he must find a way to himself. This is a personality trait that every human being is born with and when it becomes endangered the human instinct is to resist.
Resistance is not always easy as Orwell demonstrates in his novel. inston and others in the novel are met at all sides to conform but it is not so easy, as inston illustrates. The yearning of human nature is compounded with images of Thought Police, another intrusive presence that makes life unbearable. inston tells us, "At home and in bed in the darkness you were safe from the telescreen so long as you kept silent" (96-7). Again, we…...

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Works Cited

Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Harcourt Brace. 1977.

Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology
In Human Nature and Conduct, John Dewey propounds the theory that all human conduct is the outcome of an interaction between elements of human nature and the environment, both natural and social (Dewey, p. 10). Based on this premise, Dewey advocates that the study of morals or ethics shift its ground from a transcendental realm to one where the discipline of social psychology is used to intelligently reengineer the environment so that ethical behavior is habitually encouraged. Thus, Dewey defines the moral problem as that of "modifying the factors which now influence future results. To change the working character or will of another we have to alter objective conditions which enter into his habits." (p. 18) Personally, I agree with Dewey's philosophy because its construct makes the achievement of an ethical world seem more real and less utopian.

The subject of morals or…...

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Works Cited

Dewey, J. "Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology." New York:

The Modern Library, 1930.

Thesis Statement:

The exploration of unknown territories, whether physical or psychological, is often fraught with challenges, but can lead to profound self-discovery, personal growth, and the unmasking of hidden truths.

Introduction:

Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" are classic tales of adventure that explore the intricate depths of imagination and the human psyche. While Carroll's work delves into a surreal and dreamlike world, Stevenson's novel transports readers to an era of pirates, hidden treasures, and treacherous journeys. Both narratives emphasize the transformative power of exploration and the significance of embracing the unknown in order to uncover hidden truths....

Title: Contrasting the Philosophical Perspectives of Plato and Aristotle: A Comparative Analysis

Plato and Aristotle, two towering figures of ancient Greek philosophy, have left an indelible mark on Western thought and continue to shape intellectual discourse to this day. Their profound insights into the nature of reality, knowledge, ethics, and politics have influenced generations of scholars and continue to inspire contemporary philosophical inquiry. This essay delves into the philosophical perspectives of Plato and Aristotle, highlighting their similarities and differences in their approaches to understanding the world.

Similarities in Philosophical Outlook

Plato and Aristotle shared certain fundamental assumptions about the nature of reality. Both....

1. The psychological impact of isolation and loneliness in Solaris 1971
2. The role of memory and perception in shaping reality in Solaris 1971
3. The tension between science and emotion in Solaris 1971
4. The exploration of consciousness and identity in Solaris 1971
5. The representation of love and loss in Solaris 1971
6. The implications of human contact with alien life forms in Solaris 1971
7. The themes of grief and guilt in Solaris 1971
8. The significance of the ocean as a symbolic element in Solaris 1971
9. The portrayal of gender roles and relationships in Solaris 1971
10. The philosophical questions raised by the film's....

Outline for Essay on Jane Austen

I. Introduction

A. Jane Austen's life and background
B. Overview of her literary career
C. Thesis statement: Jane Austen's novels explore the complexities of human relationships and social norms in Regency England.

II. The Social Landscape of Austen's Novels

A. Marriage and societal expectations
1. The importance of financial security and propriety
2. The role of women in society
B. The rigidity of social class
1. The contrast between the landed gentry and the middle class
2. The challenges faced by those who defy social conventions

III. The Role of Love and Marriage in Austen's Works

A.....