The State of Man: An Analysis of the Inherently Good Nature of Man

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Good and evil are two of the most ambiguous terms in the English language. There are definite themes of good and evil throughout Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Most define good as “morally righteous” and evil as “morally wrong or immoral”. These two definitions raise an important question. What is morality? Philosophically, morality can be described as a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons. So, if morality is a code that all rational persons set forward, are immoral people irrational? Or do they believe in a different code that is set forth by them and other like minded persons? How is morality judged? Should the morality of an action be judged by the action’s motivation or the action’s consequence? Morality as a philosophical construct is very ambiguous and is debated by many philosophers. To understand good and evil conceptually, one must first fully understand morality (Gert 1-2).
The following is an excerpt from Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil: Chapter V (The Natural History of Morals); “There are systems of morals which are meant to justify their author in the eyes of other people; other systems of morals are meant to tranquilize him, and make him self-satisfied; with other systems he wants to crucify and humble himself, with others he wishes to take revenge, with others to conceal himself, with others to glorify himself and gave superiority and distinction,--this system of morals helps its author to forget, that system makes him, or something of him, forgotten, many a moralist would like to exercise power and creative arbitrariness over mankind, many another, perhaps, Kant especially, gives us to understand by his morals that "what is estimable in me, is ...

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...ave their faith in the goodness of man challenged. Both believed in the good nature of man, which is a testament to the goodness of man in itself. Morality is an ever changing landscape. The duality of humanity’s nature will always be in question but there will always be people like Atticus and Scout who help the goodness of man be seen.

Works Cited

Gert, Bernard. "The Definition of Morality." Stanford University. Stanford University, 17 Apr. 2002. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
Glover. "To Kill a Mockingbird Themes." Study Guides & Essay Editing. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Locke, John. "John Locke." Poetry Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. "Beyond Good and Evil Ch 5." Beyond Good and Evil Ch 5. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Sue, Fatinn. "Co Existence of Good and Evil to Kill a Mockingbird." By Fatinn Sue. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.

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