Human Nature

“It is a sin to believe evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake.”

-H.L Menckens

From the moment they are born, humans have a naturally evil predisposition. Although the term ‘evil’ is difficult to define, there are various views on morality. The most commonly referenced one, Moral Objectivism, holds that moral standards are universally transcendent, and that certain acts are right or wrong independent of human subjectivity. It is by this unspoken moral code that humanity’s acts are judged. There is some debate whether a fundamental human nature exists, as social and environmental influences are present from the moment someone is born. But if we can define human nature, it is beyond doubt, naturally evil. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, prominent in the 17th century, said of human nature: “during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man" He believed that man had a right to defend his life and liberty against others, and that in his natural state, he was born to do so. He used the term “Bellum omnium contra omnes”, literally translated, “The war of all against all”, to describe this. We often like to believe that our race is naturally ‘good’- it is one of the things that separate us from the thousands of other species of living things. Morality and ethics are the threads that hold together civilization when all else fails, and so we like to think that at the very core, the basic instinct of mankind is to aid one another in distress, to support one another in turbulent times. But in today’s selfish society, that is rarely the case. Through historical events, diverse religious beliefs, and empirica...

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...eing kind no longer benefits us, our basic nature becomes clear: we protect our own interests above all else.

Historical tragedies, religious doctrine, and scientific trial all corroborate the intrinsic evil roots that humanity collectively shares. Society’s rules and the cultural norms that it has developed over time play an important role in providing the regulating hand that restrains evil. It provides incentive for altruism, reward for kindness, a reason for selflessness. But when those same regulations are removed, civilization will inevitably collapse, just as the facsimile of society on Golding’s island eventually dissolved into chaos. But where mankind struggles, we also find hope, and society continues to function, despite the inherently evil nature of humanity. We can only hope that we will be able to do the same when the world around us falls apart.