Changes in Our Conception of Human Nature (Part Two)
Philosopher Ian Hacking continues his exploration of changes in the way human nature has been looked at over time. He notes that as cities began to grow so, too, did crime and poverty. As a result, resources which might have at one time been used to...
What is Human Nature?: Existentialism and Human Nature
The 20th century existentialist Jean-Paul Satre asserts that man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. There is no human nature because there is no God to have a conception of it. The bond among humans is the universality of condition,...
Darwin and Human Nature
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about Charles Darwin, who wrote at about the same time as Kierkegaard, but wasn't drawn in by the same existentialist concerns. Darwin believed there is something like a human nature, even if unplanned by God. In fac...
The Scientific View of Human Nature
Continuing his discussion of science and its limitations, philosopher Hubert Dreyfus says that science is good at figuring out facts, like the genetic code or what human beings need in order to survive. Where science falls short, Professor Dreyfus e...
Human Nature
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about the ancient view of human nature, which was based on man as a rational animal. Professor Dreyfus describes how that perspective changed in about 1670, when Blaise Pascal wrote that human nature is essentially a...