According to Hegel, the conscious has certain knowledge of itself. It is certain of its own existence. This form of knowledge is immediate and intuitive to the spirit. The conscious spirit is aware of its moral duty. However, it still needs to be convinced of its duty which needs to be universalized and recognized. Moreover, it’s immediate knowing and willing need to be certified and or validated. This validation is only possible in the context of a community of other selves: other moral agents.
The implication of the notion above is that, moral duty is not, and cannot be, an individual affair. The concept of duty presupposes a correlative to which the duty is directed to. Thus, the phrase “duty to” derives its full meaning. In other words, duty is not possible in an isolated individual set up. It is this notion that, inevitably, leads us to the concept of language. According to Hegel, language is a universal recognition medium. It is also the immediate context in which the spirit realizes its existence.
Language is recognized by Hegel as a universal medium because it is in it that the spirit exists in the form of itself and for others. It is through language that the spirit is able to express itself as conscious and universal. Therefore, for Hegel, language denotes the self-consciousness being there for others. By the phrase that ‘language denotes the self-existing universally,' it is meant that individual utterances are twofold. It is twofold in that individual utterance is both an object for the individual and also for others to whom it is uttered.
When individuals utter words, they simply abandon their existence as individual and isolated selves. Moreover, the individual participates in the universal social existence. He puts ...
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... by Thomas Hobbes, man is brutal. He is at war with other men to gather as much liberty as he can. He has little or no value to other human life as long as he achieves his selfish gains.
This is the kind of moral orientation present in the state of nature. It is for reasons of wanting their liberties protected that men in the state of nature seek to cultivate a different moral orientation. This enables them to have their liberty compatible with other people’s liberties. They seek to invent a different language of morality that will shape their consciences afresh. They engage in a social contract that leads to a government that safeguards their rights and liberties. This implies that a sense of duty that was nonexistent in their consciousness is now cultivated. They recognize their duty to preserve not only their liberties but also those of their fellow human beings.
In sections 190-193 of Georg Wilhelm Fredrich Hegel’s Phenomenology of Sprit, Hegel looks into the relationship between the lord and the bondsman. In this examination of the relationship, Hegel makes the move to find out what both the lord and bondsman offer to each other in terms of existence and or identity. The formulation that Hegel made in the selected sections is that the bondsman had more to gain in terms of intellectual growth than his lord who becomes intellectually dormant due to the bondsman acting in the likeness of his lord.
Man's inhumanity to man is clearly demonstrated in William Golding's work, The Lord of the Flies, as well as John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men.
We will give Hobbes’ view of human nature as he describes it in Chapter 13 of Leviathan. We will then give an argument for placing a clarifying layer above the Hobbesian view in order to account for acts of altruism. Hobbes views human nature as the war of each man against each man. For Hobbes, the essence of human nature can be found when we consider how man acts apart from any government or order. Hobbes describes the world as “a time of war, where every man is enemy to every man.”
Human beings show kindness from the outside but they are thinking mean thoughts from the inside. People can easily delude others when not much attention is paid towards them. Not everyone is as nice as they seem, there are many bad people out there. Today’s generation is full of people who get offended on almost anything someone does or says and starts to behave differently, hating every single thing the person does. Orwell and Geddes demonstrate that a man is inhumane to another through their texts Animal farm and “Growing up Native”. Those texts are referable to the real world today, because small misunderstandings can lead to crimes against others. People are more likely to have grudges towards others in society, such as fights, misunderstandings, and jealousy which can make people do cruel things. People of other religion and beliefs are treated differently; betrayal is a common occurrence among humans. No matter how nice Therefore one can see that “man’s inhumanity to man” is everywhere.
In 1806, nearly two hundred years before Fukuyama’s audacious historical stance, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel declared the end of history. Hegel bases his claim in that the Napoleonic Code, a preliminary, yet revolutionary replacement of previous feudal laws, was being promulgated and slowly implemented throughout Napoleon’s empire . Hegel believes, however, that the adoption of a particular code or set of standards for a civil society, like the Napoleonic Code or the Constitution of the United States, is stipulated on the rational evolution or progression of peoples towards the realization that they are free or equal. In short, a constitution that guarantees your freedom means nothing to those who do not possess the self-consciousness
Normative self-government seems present a complex way of thinking where one’s moral decisions are not just based on the desires or emotion. Emphasizing the point that making a moral decision after the consideration of one’s desires or emotions is what Korgaard wants to convey through this understanding of normative self-government. Explaining normative self-government through humans and animals, while also distinguishing what separates them, makes the effect on morality more prevalent. The normative self-government brings out this idea of a more complex thinking that can be subjective to the species depending on their level of consciousness. As shown, there can be flaws in the concept of normative self-government but for the sake of her argument it is credible. Normative self-government emphasizes on the importance of the control of one’s action. That control over the action, whether it can or cannot be taught or developed over time, is what makes that decision
Kung, Hans. The Incarnation of God: An Introduction to Hegel's Theological Thought As Prolegomena to a Future Christology. T&T Clark, 2001. hard cover.
“"During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.” In other words, Hobbes theorized that men are naturally evil, and that without a strong force to keep them in check, men would live by “the laws of nature…partiality, pride, revenge and the like.” (Thomas Hobbes.com)
In a Man 's Nature is Evil, men are depicted as evil since birth. Hsün Tzu declares that "Man 's nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity" (Tzu 84). He speaks about how men are born with fondness for certain aspects of life such as profit, envy and beauty. Consequently, obtaining these aspects would lead to a life of violence, crime and recklessness. According to Tzu, men are born with a pleasure for profit. However, this need for riches will cause a man to have conflicts and altercations in his life. This is due to the fact that man will have such a great urge to obtain profit in life that he will go to all means necessary, including violence. Man is also born with envy and hate; it is not something he is taught. The internal struggle these two attributes have to offer will once
“There is only one way in which one can endure man’s inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one’s own life, to exemplify man’s humanity to man.” by Alan Paton
The play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, shows human nature to be greedy, self-involved and vengeful. Claudius is driven by his greed to commit murder. Polonius is always looking out for himself, currying favor at the expense of anyone in his way. Hamlet thinks only of vengeance from the moment he finds out about Claudius murdering his father. Human nature has been all of these things, but it has also evolved through the ages. We can be base and cruel, but we can also show great compassion and kindness.
Human beings have been struggling to learn the meaning of life since the first day. Ideologies are born as human’s interpretation of the world and belief system, also an endeavor to seek the truth of human nature. Ideologies emerge throughout the periods of great changes: the Enlightenment, the English “Glorious” Revolution, the American Revolution, etc. They have become the motivations, the standards, and the roots to modern political systems. Their roots are the philosophies developed by famous philosophers throughout the time. However, as each ideology is developed, its own contradiction also grows, takes place in the realm of actions. This, in turn, shows contradiction as human nature.
In Leviathan, Hobbes seems to underestimate the motives of mankind. His pessimistic view of human nature sheds no light on the goods that men do. While human nature may create a sense of personal survival, it does not imply that human nature will lead towards violent behavior. When left to provide for themselves, mankind will work toward a peace that benefits them all. There will always be evil in the world which will disrupt the peace, but in the end the strength of men should triumph.
Every time people interact with each other, they must choose what words to say and how to act. To do this, they use experiences and must consider who exactly they are communicating with as behaviors yield different results in different circumstances. For example, it is unwise to act similarly with a businessman or doctor as one would a friend. James Paul Gee refers to grouping of behaviors as “discourses.” Gee defines discourses as “ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions and clothes” (Wardle 484). In addition to acting and speaking alike, groups of people share beliefs and values as well.
It states “And therefore if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and in the way to their end, which is principally their own conservation, and sometimes their delectation only, endeavor to destroy or subdue one another." This thought springs upon a touchy subject in the world then, and even today. That subject is the aspects of human conflict. Conflict is something we all must have. Without this, we would never have the statue of liberty, and blacks’ rights, and even in that time, it was important. Thomas Hobbes completely believes against war and conflict. Although, he turns arounds and says that any man will fight for what they desire. I believe that not all men are violent men, and based on the personality and judgement of that individual man, is how he should have perceived men. Some men would rather not fight to achieve their goals, they would find an alternative, more rational