Human Nature........................................................................................................................ 2
Free Will................................................................................................................................. 4
Substance Dualism.................................................................................................................6
Equating mind and brain (body) the material and immaterial...........................................10
Problem of Other Minds........................................................................................................11
The Self................................................................................................................................ 13
Continuous Self.................................................................................................................... 14
, Human Nature
Extract philosophical question:
What, if any, are the criteria for human nature?
Is there such a thing as human nature?
Approaches:
Hobbes
Rousseau
Thesis:
I will disagree with Hobbes that humans nature is ‘nasty, brutish and short’, and rather, agree
with Rousseau that humans are naturally good creatures who balance egoism and sympathy.
It is the unnatural inequalities emerging from society which cause the need for the social
contract, which should, in turn, aim to protect our nature rather than protect us from it.
Body 1: Rousseauian human nature as Noble Savages
1. Birth: As Rousseau argues, humans are born innocent and naturally good, originally
living in the state of nature as Noble Savages.
2. Noble Savages: This has been the term attributed to Rousseau’s view of human
nature, as he bases his argument on two psychological prepositions: firstly, that
humans are self-interested beings who care about their own happiness; and secondly,
they are guided by feelings of compassion. The compassion is seen as humans seem
to have a “natural repugnance at seeing ant being perish or suffer”, meaning we do not
solely think about ourselves. Thus, human egoism is balanced by sympathy, which
can override pure selfishness.
3. General Will:
As Rousseau argues, humans are born innocent and naturally good, originally living as Noble
Savages.
Humans are all equally good
● Rousseau’s positive view of human nature is based on two psychological
prepositions:
○ Humans are self-interested beings who care about their own happiness
○ They have a natural repugnance at ‘seeing any being perish or suffer’
● Thus their egoism is balanced by sympathy → can override selfishness
● Lead to reliance on general will - trust among humanity
However, he allows for inequalities
● There are differences
○ However these differences are negligible
, ○ The important inequalities are those that we only get in society
● It is the social structures of our society which make us unequal
Body 2: Hobbes disagrees- has a negative view of human nature
1. Individualist: Thus purely self interested. Self interest manifests itself in the fear of
death and prioritization of survival.
2. Rational: since we are all equally rational, we each use our reasoning abilities to
calculate our risk assessment for death.
3. War of all against all: Since we are all equally trying to avoid death above anything
else, our self-interest may override someone else’s and inevitably lead to a war of all
against all. Thus the life under the state of nature becomes nasty, brutish and short.
While we seek peace, Hobbes believes we will always have conflict when left to our
own devices.
4. Leviathan: Thus, Hobbes’ social contract seeks to protect us from our own nature. It
upholds our self-interest, yet ensures it does not inflict on the self-interest of others
through the use of negative liberty, i.e. freedom from interference.
For hobbes, humans are more self-interested than sympathetic
While all humans are rational, fear death
● We tend towards conflict but seek peace
● We’re all seeking to avoid death
● The contradicting ways of us doing this may lead to war, all against all
● We all have the same reason - risk assessment (to avoid death)
● No inherent morality or justice
Body 3: Rousseau counters Hobbes claims, suggesting that what Hobbes is seeing as human
nature is actually a product of social institutions and property: humans do not naturally tend
towards conflict.
The first man who fenced his garden makes inequalities important
Property
● Not part of our nature
● It’s a product of the society we live in
● The first step of moving from our natural state to the social state is when someone
announces that something is their property and others believe them → foundation
of civil society
● It is because of the lust for property that organized society became necessary
○ State of nature→ people were free and happy and self-sufficient
○ But when one greedy person appropriate wealth, inequality and
difference of power arose
○ Private property causes inequalities and the need for government to
protect property, and with government regulations, comes the need to
restrict our freedom
○ Inevitably, property causes inequalities and inequalities cause resentment
Free Will................................................................................................................................. 4
Substance Dualism.................................................................................................................6
Equating mind and brain (body) the material and immaterial...........................................10
Problem of Other Minds........................................................................................................11
The Self................................................................................................................................ 13
Continuous Self.................................................................................................................... 14
, Human Nature
Extract philosophical question:
What, if any, are the criteria for human nature?
Is there such a thing as human nature?
Approaches:
Hobbes
Rousseau
Thesis:
I will disagree with Hobbes that humans nature is ‘nasty, brutish and short’, and rather, agree
with Rousseau that humans are naturally good creatures who balance egoism and sympathy.
It is the unnatural inequalities emerging from society which cause the need for the social
contract, which should, in turn, aim to protect our nature rather than protect us from it.
Body 1: Rousseauian human nature as Noble Savages
1. Birth: As Rousseau argues, humans are born innocent and naturally good, originally
living in the state of nature as Noble Savages.
2. Noble Savages: This has been the term attributed to Rousseau’s view of human
nature, as he bases his argument on two psychological prepositions: firstly, that
humans are self-interested beings who care about their own happiness; and secondly,
they are guided by feelings of compassion. The compassion is seen as humans seem
to have a “natural repugnance at seeing ant being perish or suffer”, meaning we do not
solely think about ourselves. Thus, human egoism is balanced by sympathy, which
can override pure selfishness.
3. General Will:
As Rousseau argues, humans are born innocent and naturally good, originally living as Noble
Savages.
Humans are all equally good
● Rousseau’s positive view of human nature is based on two psychological
prepositions:
○ Humans are self-interested beings who care about their own happiness
○ They have a natural repugnance at ‘seeing any being perish or suffer’
● Thus their egoism is balanced by sympathy → can override selfishness
● Lead to reliance on general will - trust among humanity
However, he allows for inequalities
● There are differences
○ However these differences are negligible
, ○ The important inequalities are those that we only get in society
● It is the social structures of our society which make us unequal
Body 2: Hobbes disagrees- has a negative view of human nature
1. Individualist: Thus purely self interested. Self interest manifests itself in the fear of
death and prioritization of survival.
2. Rational: since we are all equally rational, we each use our reasoning abilities to
calculate our risk assessment for death.
3. War of all against all: Since we are all equally trying to avoid death above anything
else, our self-interest may override someone else’s and inevitably lead to a war of all
against all. Thus the life under the state of nature becomes nasty, brutish and short.
While we seek peace, Hobbes believes we will always have conflict when left to our
own devices.
4. Leviathan: Thus, Hobbes’ social contract seeks to protect us from our own nature. It
upholds our self-interest, yet ensures it does not inflict on the self-interest of others
through the use of negative liberty, i.e. freedom from interference.
For hobbes, humans are more self-interested than sympathetic
While all humans are rational, fear death
● We tend towards conflict but seek peace
● We’re all seeking to avoid death
● The contradicting ways of us doing this may lead to war, all against all
● We all have the same reason - risk assessment (to avoid death)
● No inherent morality or justice
Body 3: Rousseau counters Hobbes claims, suggesting that what Hobbes is seeing as human
nature is actually a product of social institutions and property: humans do not naturally tend
towards conflict.
The first man who fenced his garden makes inequalities important
Property
● Not part of our nature
● It’s a product of the society we live in
● The first step of moving from our natural state to the social state is when someone
announces that something is their property and others believe them → foundation
of civil society
● It is because of the lust for property that organized society became necessary
○ State of nature→ people were free and happy and self-sufficient
○ But when one greedy person appropriate wealth, inequality and
difference of power arose
○ Private property causes inequalities and the need for government to
protect property, and with government regulations, comes the need to
restrict our freedom
○ Inevitably, property causes inequalities and inequalities cause resentment
