Its nature
From the day we have the capability of speaking we are taught what is right from what is wrong; why is it that once we grow older that we are tempted to make decisions that hurt others? When people are children they are not exposed to the same things that they are when they become educated adults. By nature people genuinely want to be good, but because of the effects of society they are lead to the path of evil.
From the beginning of time people were destined to follow the path of kindness. In the book of Genesis God made Adam and Eve with the intentions of them portraying to be in his image, good. The book of Genesis says " So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created
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he them. And god blessed them" (King James version, Genesis 1:27). With God creating man to be in his image further goes on to prove that men were supposed to be good. Adam and Eve lived a good life in The Garden of Eden, until Eve was tempted to enlighten her knowledge of good and evil. In the third book of Genesis the Devil, in the form of a snake says to Eve " Your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil"(Gen 3:5). The devil is a symbol for society in that he offers the knowledge that people once did not know but now want to know because of the temptations of the world. The lack of acknowledgement for others feelings can also lead people onto the path of evil.
Most people can not relate so something unless they have personally also gone through it, so when someone does evil things to others they are mostly unaware on how it affects others negatively. In the article "What Makes us Moral" Kluger states "The deepest foundation of morality is built is the phenomenon of empathy, the understanding that what hurts me would feel the same way to you" (Kluger,8). Once someone is able to relate and empathize with another person they are less likely to enact on something evil , because they know how it would feel if it was to happen to them. The people of this world also try to determine who is worthy of doing a good deed for. If people began to see each other in the same light and all as equals there would be more kindness in the world. In "What Makes us Moral" Kluger also says is " Our species has a very conflicted sense of when we ought to help someone, and when we ought not, and the general rule is. help those close to home, and ignore those far away" (Kluger,16). This goes on to show that people are taught that they can only do good for those who do good unto them, or those who are close to them. Society teaches us when it is okay to do kind things and when it is "okay" to make a evil
choice. The way the world is made up today has gave people a way to rank themselves, weather is by a person's sex, how much money they make, or a job one might have, people always find a way to put themselves above another person. When one has the thought that they have power, they are more willing to do evil things than someone who does not have authority. In the Stanford prison experiment 24 males were selected to be either a prisoner or a cop. In the experiment the cops become violent with the prisoners even though they did not have the real role of being a cop. In the psychology of evil the team of researchers said "The participants adapted to their roles immediately" (Psychology of Evil 2). The position that the world gives to someone can affect the amount of evil someone does. Every now and then people will do something that is evil, and believe that is was okay because of the intentions that they had when they were doing the evil act, or the way that they were raised when they were young. The way someone was raised and who they were surrounded by in their young life plays a huge role in the amount of evil someone is willing to do in their adult life. In the article "The Roots of Evil" Begley explains where evil comes from, the evils she explained all came from the toll of society and/or another person had on someone. Begley says " Because of each life experience affects an individual according to his innate psychological makeup" (Begley 10). With that being said people are who they are because of how they see the world. One can choose to be a optimist or a pessimist. The way people view the world and society can determine whether they turn out to be a good, or an evil person. Evil has been and always will be surrounding us, the only way we can limit the amount of evil in the world is to be sure to treat everyone equally, and also influence positivity onto children at a young age. Good and evil are apart of nature, the way one takes on society will decide what part of nature someone is on.
Instead the environment we are raised in will change who we are and how we act. In the short story “The Half-Husky” by Margaret Laurence, Harvey is a prime example of this - as a child, he was very innocent and lacked a suitable understanding of the environment he was in, but as he grew up his aunt began to complain about how much of a nuisance he was in her life (complaining about no one wanting to date her because she already had a child). Growing up knowing that you are not wanted must be extremely difficult, because your life may seem without a purpose. Harvey - being raised by an aunt who does not want him - began to not want anything to do with other people. He began to model what his aunt did to him to other people, eventually reaching Nanuk and Vanessa. Nanuk is a dog, but not much different from Harvey as a pup Nanuk was very innocent, but once Harvey started torturing Nanuk by poking him with a stick, getting pepper in his eyes, and even setting him on fire! Nanuk became very cautious and aggressive around other people, the environment he was originally raised in with Vanessa was one with a lot of care, but once he was introduced to Harvey he went from extremely innocent to overly aggressive. Humans are not inherently good or evil, but are susceptible to change through their experiences in their
Humans are born sinful and are full of evil desires, like greed and selfishness. Individualism drives us apart and poisoned our mutual relationships” (Kuyper, Abraham, and James W. Skillen 25). Kuyper says that, “Every creature, our Confessions says so beautifully, must serve man, so that man may serve God” (Kuyper, Abraham, and James W. Skillen 23). Humans being are called to serve each other; in God’s commandments He says to love our neighbor as ourselves. Kuyper says, “…the cause of evil lay in this: that men regarded humanity as cut off from its eternal destiny, did not honor it as created in the image of God, and did not reckon with the majesty of the Lord” (Kuyper, Abraham, and James W. Skillen 26). Kuyper says that “Our society is losing touch with Christ…” and that is the main problem with society (Kuyper, Abraham, and James W. Skillen
... of morality built into us. People have been living thousand of years where the only thing we knew of was near them. Even if someone had wanted to help people in need who were far away, it would have been impossible. It was not until very recently that the ability to help people anywhere in the globe came about . With the creation of companies who provide relief, such as the Red Cross, people are able to give as much as they have. So perhaps the morality that civilization has been living with since its beginnings has changed.
“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” (Eleanor Roosevelt). This is just one of the infinite examples of how human nature has been explored by so many different people. Each and every human is born with the capability of making their own choices. The decisions that they will make in the future will determine how evil they are viewed by others. Although one’s nature and nurture do affect their life, it is their own free will that determines whether or not they are evil.
Whether or not humans are instinctively good or evil has been a much talked about debate for many years and is known as an unanswerable question. Determinists, such as Thomas Hobbs, have come to the conclusion that humans are naturally evil and it is within our basic instincts to be greedy, selfish and otherwise drawn to chaos. Hobbs states that “our true nature arises in times of strife and it is within us, when threatened, to self preserve.” I on the other hand disagree with this famous philosophers take on human nature. In this short essay, I will argue that human beings are born with the instinct to be good and to love one another, as well as to be loved.
What drives people to act in an improper way, is not evil, but rather a lack of empathy hardwired into their brain. When a
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.
In the article “What makes us moral” by Jeffrey Kluger, he describes how morality is defined and how the people follow rules. Kluger discusses about scientific research that has been done to point out the important reasons of morality. Kluger explains that a person’s decision to do something good or bad is based on empathy, that humans tend not to do bad to those they sympathize with. Kluger also compares humans with animals and thinks that morality is the only thing that separates us from animals. I do agree with Kluger that people are born with a sense of right and wrong, but we should be taught how to use it. We learned to be nicer to those around us because we already know the type of person they are, and the morality we learned as children
Are we destined to do good or evil from the day we are born, or are we clay in the hands of society (determine it on our own.)? A question that has challenged the mind of man from the beginning of time. A man born with nothing to his name couldn’t have been perceived as not evil in Victorian society. A man is judged by how much society has corrupted him. Man is judged on a scale of evil not good, so it is impossible to be “perfect”.
People are being put into categories of who is good and who is bad based on their actions. What causes someone to be bad, are we born evil, is there a underlying problem we’re all facing? What is good and evil, and is it on a more higher spiritual level that we can’t comprehend? Tzu’s states in his writing, “Man’s nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity” (709). I feel like Tsu’s statement is bias. In my eyes, humans are all born innocent and pure. We can learn so much from babies, because they have little to no influences on behavior. The only problem is that we clearly can’t communicate with babies, however we can guess what they want and or feeling based on actions. According to Tom Stafford “Are we naturally good or bad?” BBC, BBC, 14 Jan. 2013, www.bbc.com/future/story/20130114-are-we-naturally-good-or-bad. Accessed 7 Sept. 2017. “Experiments carried out at Yale university suggest that even the youngest humans have a sense of right and wrong, and, furthermore, an instinct to prefer good over evil.” Going more in depth, this goes against Tzu’s saying and proves that not everyone or anyone is born evil. When a child is born their first instinct is to feel love and affection not anger and
Most people do not think about what the actions that they are doing are wrong until something bad has already happened. But i believe that if you are a good person and watch what your actions
...ing, it is safe to say that humans are not by nature evil but instead, they are good but easily influenced by the environment and society to act in evil way and do such evil things. You choose the road you want to take; either it’s the bad road or the good road. We are all born to live a life where we will be faced with good and evil things. We were not born to be an evil or bad person, but as you get older you make that choice. What do you want to be remembered as: the good or the bad person? Choose to be good over being bad because the rewards to your family, your friend, and yourself will always outweigh the bad.
Many will argue that while there is evil everywhere, we can find examples of kindness and cooperation in the world. This is a justifiable statement b...
Life comes with many questions. Everyone has their own wonders, but there are many of the same questions that are asked numerous times. One that crosses the minds of nearly everyone is, “Why am I the way that I am?” The answer to this question is morality. Morality is the reason we act, think, discriminate, and speak; it is what distinguishes right from wrong. Some believe that morality comes with birth, and others believe that it is taught by parents and surroundings. Whichever way it may be, researchers are discovering that our morals are evolving in astonishing ways, and our lives are immensely affected by them. There are many factors to consider when it comes to understanding why a person is the way they are, but the origins of these factors all point to one thing—morality.
During the lives of people live most of it is spent forming and improving on the self and how external and internal factors will affect themselves. Even when humans are first born they do not develop a sense of empathy and sympathy until around the age of 6, “The entire scope of human history shows us that children do not share naturally; they must be taught to do so”(Johnson 11). The development of sympathy and empathy created by interacting with other human beings. Thus, making humans selfish, not selfless, in nature. This innate quality perpetuates the blindness that people have towards the idea that, no matter how people live their lives, where they live, or the amount of interactions, everyone on this earth is connected. The whole of human society based off interaction, always dependant with one another. The integral makings of our society and how people make themselves formed by everyone