Who are We?: Theories of Human NatureWhat is our nature? What is this enigma that we call human? Who are we? Since the dawn of human history, people have exhibited wildly contradictory qualities: good and evil, love and hate, strength and weakness, kindness and cruelty, aggressiveness and pacifism, generosity and greed, courage and cowardice. Experiencing a sense of eternity in our hearts--but at the same time confined to temporal and spatial constraints--we seek to understand ourselves, both individually and as a species. In Who Are We? Theories of Human Nature, esteemed author Louis P. Pojman seeks to find answers to these questions by exploring major theories in Western philosophy and religion, along with several traditions in Eastern thought. The most comprehensive work of its kind, the volume opens with chapters on the Hebrew/Christian view of human nature and the contrasting classical Greek theories, outlining a dichotomy between faith and reason that loosely frames the rest of the book. The following chapters cover the medieval view, Hindu and Buddhist perspectives, conservative and liberal theories, Kant's Copernican revolution, Schopenhauer's pessimistic idealism, and Karl Marx's theory. Freud's psychoanalytic view, the existentialist perspective, the Darwinian view, and scientific materialism are also discussed. Pojman concludes with a discussion of the question of free will, ultimately asserting that each one of us must decide for ourselves who and what we are, and, based on that answer, how we shall live. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
PLATOS THEORY OF HUMAN NATURE | 40 |
ARISTOTLES THEORY OF HUMAN NATURE | 56 |
Copyright | |
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actions animals answer argues argument Aristotle atman Augustine become behavior believe body brain Buddha Buddhism called categorical imperative causality cause chapter Christian compatibilism compatibilist consciousness Darwin death desire determinism developed divine doctrine dualist dualistic interactionism dukkha eliminative materialism essence ethics evil evolutionary existence Existentialism experience feel freedom Freud function Greek happiness Hebrew Bible Hinduism Hobbes hold human nature Ibid idea individual justice Kant Kant's Karl Marx Kierkegaard knowledge libertarian live Marx material materialist means mental events metaphysical mind Nietzsche Nirvana notion objects one's Oxford University Press pain person philosophers physical Plato principle problem produce psychological question rational reality reason reductive materialism religion religious revolution Rousseau rules Sartre Schopenhauer seems sense sexual simply social society Sociobiology Socrates Sophists soul spiritual suffering superego Testament theory of human thesis things thought tion trans true truth Upanishads view of human virtue