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Genetics and criminality
Nature vs Nurture debate
Nature vs Nurture debate
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Recommended: Genetics and criminality
College gives people the opportunity to venture into unusual courses they would never dream of taking along with intriguing ones that inspire them as well. One course that could be implemented at a university surrounds around the idea of human nature. Is human nature naturally good? And what animal instincts drive us to do some of the crimes people commit? It sounds as if a psychology class, biology class, and a sociology class combined to create this idea. This question would stick in the students minds and have them ponder what factors can make a person be considered a good or bad one. If a person has the factors to be good, why do they choose to be evil instead? It is important for the students to consider this question as they go out into
Throughout the past centuries, the concept of instinctive morality has been debated back and forth. One philosophy with a strong viewpoint on this subject is Puritanism, because they believe that since the beginning of the world, people have been born sinners. Puritans felt that Adam and Eve’s temptation by Satan had cursed all of humanity to be born evil. A few decades later, Deists shifted their ideas away from religion and believed that every person could choose whether they were good or bad. Then, Transcendental ideas began the thought that humans were born innately good, and that God and Satan had nothing to do with people’s morality. Throughout the major literary philosophies in the United States, one can see how the innate character of a human progresses from being evil to being innately good.
Many people have different views on the moral subject of good and evil or human nature. It is the contention of this paper that humans are born neutral, and if we are raised to be good, we will mature into good human beings. Once the element of evil is introduced into our minds, through socialization and the media, we then have the potential to do bad things. As a person grows up, they are ideally taught to be good and to do good things, but it is possible that the concept of evil can be presented to us. When this happens, we subconsciously choose whether or not to accept this evil. This where the theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke become interesting as both men differed in the way they believed human nature to be. Hobbes and Locke both picture a different scene when they express human nature.
The Road is a phenomenal example of how raw human nature shapes peoples’ decisions. It addresses the behaviors of people neither informed nor controlled by a social order. In the essence of The Road, people’s actions are highly dependent on the person’s basic needs. A lack of basic human needs often results in the more disturbing view of human nature. (Gilbert pg. 43) Betrayal, suicide, and cannibalism are all examples of behaviors that human nature can bring out of people.
“A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor explores the complexity of human nature. The unnamed grandmother is a perfect example of how contradictory a person’s beliefs and standards can be. She is indirectly manipulative, yet she holds herself to a higher, purer standard than the other characters. Not to mention, the grandmother is not as she first appear, and she is stuck on the views of the past and how they apply to her as a lady, whether the views are correct or not.
There has always been a fascination with trying to determine what causes an individual to become a criminal? Of course a large part of that fascination has to do with the want to reduce crime, and to determine if there is a way to detect and prevent individuals from committing crime. Determining what causes criminality is still not perfectly clear and likewise, there is still debate as to whether crime is caused biologically, environmentally, or socially. Furthermore, the debate is directly correlated to the notion of 'nurture vs nature'. Over time many researchers have presented various theories pertaining to what causes criminal behavior. There are many theories that either support or oppose the concept of crime being biological rather than a learned behavior.
Every human is born with the potential to be inherently evil. Whether they choose this path or not depends on the influences of the outside world. We can see an example of how this is true from the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Although all of the boys in the novel start out as innocent choirboys, they show their true form of evil when they are put in a dire situation. The boys no longer become friends to one another, instead they try to kill animals and even each other for the pure enjoyment of it. Humans are born evil and have the intent of doing violent and harmful things as evident by; the world’s history, violence as a source of entertainment, constant wars, and bullies, both cyber and physical.
The Battle of Nature vs. Nurture In Nancy Kress' "In Memoriam", the philosophical issue of identity becomes apparent. As a son pleads to his mother to take part in a medical procedure, which wipes your mind clear of memories, the question of "what makes me'me'?" arises. Set in the future, the mother is faced with a decision: whether or not she wants to die as a result of having too many memories, or as a result of having none at all. The son, Aaron, takes quite a different approach however as he feels that it is not a question of death, rather a question of life.
The term human nature is often thrown about haphazardly in everyday life. From phrases such as “it is just human nature for boys to like playing with trucks more than girls” to “it is human nature to want to protect yourself”, the term is used by many to imply that there are certain universal characteristics shared by all humans. The layman frequency of its use gives it a false facade of simplicity, rather, what human nature is, and even whether it exists has been and is currently hotly debated in the philosophical and biological communities. Those who support the existence of a human nature are often split into two camps; the essentialist view and the nomological view. On the other hand, some such as Hull are suspicious and pessimistic of
Finding strong evidence surrounding this topic could be significant to reducing crime rates and addressing the public health issue. What I have learn from research-based evidence and analyzing social and cultural theories, is that criminal behavior is multifaceted and is influenced by a range of determinants in which surrounds the nature versus nurture debate. I believe that nature and nurture both play significant roles to the making of a criminal.
The understanding of human nature is the concept that there is a set of inherent distinguishing characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that all humans tend to possess (Winkler, 1996). My basic view of human nature correlates with Charles Darwin’s nature vs. nurture theory. Human nature is influenced by both nature and nurture. Nature is all that a man brings with himself into the world, and nurture is every influence that affects him after his birth. An individual’s morals, values, and beliefs are developed from the nurturing aspect of their life. The environment that an individual is raised in creates their human nature. Then they go through life developing more upon their own morals, values, and beliefs. The nature vs. nurture theory is an every changing concept, and I believe that human nature changes for each individual based on their life experiences.
“Nature is all that a man brings himself into the world; nurture is every influence which affects him after his birth (Rosch).” Nature vs Nurture is an age old debate on how what affects the human mind. What makes it tick? Is it genetics that decides how smart a person is? What about the environment in which they are raised? The nature side of the debate is that people are pre-programmed in the womb to behave and think a certain way. The nurture side believes that people are shaped by their surroundings more than genetics. What if both were true? That nature and nurture together mold the person to be who they are today. There are some that would agree that the debate is over. That they both work together to create our intelligence (Tarvis).
What is human nature for Confucius? What evidence does he give to show that his views about human nature are correct? Confucius is known for stressing that human nature is intrinsically good. He stresses that human beings are born with the ability to differentiate between wrong and right. A person may not be aware from infancy which acts are tolerable and which acts are not, but all offspring feel shame, and once the children learn which deeds are bad or good, they have a normal tendency to consent to the former and criticize the latter (Van and Bryan 27).
The two primary illustrations lie in hereditary and natural components, which identifies with the nature vs. nurture debate. Criminality has been in presence from the beginning of time, where Cain killed his sibling capable. The huge inquiry is, are criminals born? Certainly not, perpetrating crime is most likely not something one is born with, nevertheless it occurs over time because of certain situations or circumstances that life tosses at an individual, such as family related problems, the environment that one grows up in and social causes.
Are human beings born to be good? Or are we naturally born to be evil? A person’s nature or essence is a trait that is inherent and lasting in an individual. To be a good person is someone who thinks of others before themselves, shows kindness to one another, and makes good choices in life that can lead to a path of becoming a good moral person. To be a bad person rebels against something or someone thinking only of them and not caring about the consequences of their actions. Rousseau assumed, “that man is good by nature (as it is bequeathed to him), but good in a negative way: that is, he is not evil of his own accord and on purpose, but only in danger of being contaminated and corrupted by evil or inept guides and examples (Immanuel Kant 123).” In other words, the human is exposed to the depraved society by incompetent guardians or influences that is not of one’s free will in the view of the fact that it is passed on. My position is humans are not by nature evil. Instead, they are good but influenced by the environment and societies to act in evil ways to either harm others or themself.
Therefore, neither evil nor good can exist without the other being implicated (Yamamoto, 1998). Evil and good is often manifested in the social environment because they exist to compliment each other. In the student’s social environment, maximization of utility appears as an intrinsic