WE WERE TALKING ABOUT the role of human nature in politics on the ride down from TO the other night. although the topic has repeatedly emerged in my thinking, i struggled to express my thoughts at the time so i figured i'd better get them down in writing. aside from any broad conclusions that one might draw from observing our everyday behaviour, i think that little can be known, let alone said, about our 'true' state of being. my opinion is shaped by personal experience, a consideration of human history and certain enlightenment ideas. i hold the view that, beyond meeting our most basic requirements for survival, humans seek the freedom to inquire and to create. in addition to these intellectual and physical imperatives, it is likely that our sense of morality is largely derived from evolutionary biological processes and the conditions imposed by our complex social and natural world, over the course of hundreds of thousands of years--that is to say, we are neither inherently 'good' nor 'bad.' yet, to my knowledge, there's very little empirical research or data regarding these matters. for instance, it's difficult and perhaps even impossible to say exactly how our cognitive capacities have been fundamentally constrained by natural selection--although some evolutionary biologists and naturalist philosophers make a particularly compelling case--or to what extent they're the byproduct of these evolutionary processes and other natural laws impinging upon our physiology. ultimately, there are few plausible accounts of human nature and even fewer effective means for evaluating them. though it may not always appear evident, i believe these innately inquisitive and creative features exist within all of us, even if they've been briefly pushed just below the surface. //
No comments:
Post a Comment