Human Nature
Human nature encompasses the intrinsic qualities that distinguish humans from other species, including psychological and social characteristics. Key aspects of human nature include curiosity, emotions, reasoning, and language capacity. Philosophers throughout history, such as Plato and Aristotle, have explored the essence of humanity, with Aristotle proposing that the purpose of life is eudaemonia—often interpreted as happiness or fulfillment—achieved through conscious choices and virtues.
Contemporary research on human nature has raised questions about whether people are inherently competitive or altruistic, leading to debates on the influence of culture, genetics, and evolution. For example, studies have shown that even young children exhibit altruistic behaviors, suggesting an innate tendency towards selflessness. However, research by Joe Henrich among various cultures revealed significant variations in social behaviors, challenging the notion of universal traits like fairness. These findings indicate that human nature is complex and influenced by diverse cultural contexts, prompting scholars to continue examining how these factors shape human interactions and societal norms.
Subject Terms
Human Nature
Human nature refers to the qualities that set humankind apart from other creatures. This includes psychological and social aspects of humans, in particular actions and interactions. Among these are curiosity, emotions, reasoning, and language aptitude.
Much of the research into human nature has questioned whether humans are naturally competitive and self-centered or selfless and social. Modern research has delved into questions about the influences of culture, genetics, and evolutionary biology on human nature.
Historical Perspective
Early philosophers had varying ideas about human nature. Plato (circa 427–347 BCE) believed humans comprise both a material form and an immaterial mind. His student, Aristotle (385–322 BCE), saw all living things as having structures. More complex beings, such as humans, have more intricate structures than simple beings, such as plants. Plants are devoted to growing and reproducing; animals do the same but also have senses that link them to their environments; humans have, in addition to the other functions, a rational structure. To Aristotle's way of thinking, the soul, or essence of humankind, is entwined with the body.
Aristotle defined the purpose of humankind as eudaemonia, which may be defined in many ways, including happiness, fulfillment, and flourishing. A good life, he said, involved making conscious choices and exemplifying excellence. Humans can have excellences of intellect or reason and excellences of character or virtues, he said.
Many philosophers, anthropologists, and theologians have posed theories on human nature.
Analyzing Human Traits
Some researchers question the existence of universal human nature, because every living creature is constantly adapting to a changing environment over which it has little or no control. Every organism is unique, and within a species many variations, including gender and age, exist. Still, many traits can be predicted in specific circumstances. Such predispositions may be regarded as human nature.
Some human traits seem to defy theories of evolution. For example, humans in all cultures exhibit curiosity. It manifests itself in young children, who want to explore and frequently wonder "why." From an evolutionary perspective, curiosity is dangerous. A fragile child exploring is prone to danger; curiosity about what might be in a cave or beyond a mountain could put an individual in conflict with animals and other dangers. Yet humans are curious and often devote time and energy to learning about things that offer no apparent benefit—researching places they are unlikely to ever visit and learning languages they may never use, for example.
Some scholars point to curiosity as an example of a quality that has allowed humans to evolve. Because humans are social by nature, shared responsibility for survival has allowed individuals to take risks to satisfy curiosity. This may lead to accidental discoveries that are of future benefit.
Research
Many young children practice altruism, or selflessness. Toddlers have been found to spontaneously help adults when they are still too young to realize that such behavior is expected. Studies found that most eighteen-month-old children who saw an adult reach for an item or accidentally drop something tried to help by handing the item to the adult or picking up the dropped object. When adults deliberately put down an item, however, the toddlers did not try to assist.
For many years, studies in anthropology and sociology focused on Western societies. Often, graduate students—in particular Americans—have been used as test subjects. Yet this body of subjects represents a small percentage of the world's people. In 1995, Joe Henrich visited an isolated group of people, the Machiguenga, in Peru. The graduate student set up a variation of the 1950 Prisoner's Dilemma study. A volunteer was offered an amount of money and told they must offer some to another, anonymous, volunteer. The second volunteer may accept or reject the offer; if the subject turns it down, neither volunteer may keep the money.
In similar studies of Americans, subjects generally offered half the amount to the second subject. When the first subject offered very little, most offers were rejected—researchers found that subjects wanted to "punish" the first subject for stingy offers. Researchers generally agreed that fairness was a universal human trait. Henrich's study among the Machiguenga raised doubts about this belief.
Henrich found that the Machiguenga thought the rules of the game were strange. The first volunteer offered much less than Americans did, even at times offering very little. It did not make sense to the second volunteer to refuse any offer of free money, no matter how small. The second volunteers did not seem to view a small offer as stingy; rather, the Machiguenga were happy for the other person, who was lucky enough to play the game and get money for it.
Henrich conducted similar studies in fourteen other small-scale societies and found a wide range of behaviors among both players. He did not find purely selfish subjects in any society. In some communities, where gift-giving to gain favor with others is practiced, some volunteers made generous offers. Many of these were rejected by subjects who did not want to be obliged to the giver. The average offer among these smaller societies was considerably higher than was found when Americans played the game.
Henrich's work and subsequent studies by others have cast doubt on the assumptions made from earlier results. Scholars in the twenty-first century continued to consider the impact of culture on human thinking and behavior and its impact on human nature.
Bibliography
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Mameli, Matteo. Why Human Nature Matters. Bloomsbury, 2024.
Roughley, Neil. "Human Nature." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 15 Mar. 2021, plato.stanford.edu/entries/human-nature/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.
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Szalavitz, Maia. "Is Human Nature Fundamentally Selfish or Altruistic?" Time, 8 Oct. 2012, healthland.time.com/2012/10/08/is-human-nature-fundamentally-selfish-or-altruistic/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.