Understandings of politics have been greatly affected by different conceptions and models of human nature. Examples can be found in political ideologies such as socialism, liberalism and anarchism. Therefore human nature as a debate for discussion is very important.
In this essay I will discuss what conceptions of human nature there are and how significant they are in relation to our understandings of politics. I will focus mainly on political ideologies and their different ideas of human nature and behaviour. This is because almost all political doctrines and beliefs are based upon some kind of theory of human nature
Politics in simplistic terms is the relationship between the individual and society because it involves the interaction of human beings among each other. Human nature is what is innate, inborn and natural in human life as opposed to social experience and environment. This is where some divisions occur in conceptions of human nature.
Charles Darwin, photographed by Julia Margaret Cam...
politics in university
Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 - 8 December 1903) ...The question arises whether or not human nature is shaped only by biology or society as well (i.e. external forces). There are those who believe that humans can behave in ways that deny or contradict their 'true natures' and those who don't. It is important to note that models of human nature are normative, i.e. assumptions that cannot be scientifically proven such as what is 'human essence.'
An important debate about human nature is what makes human 'natural'. Is it given or fixed by birth (biologically and genetically determined) or is it influenced and structured by social experience (i.e. experience of the world and growing up within a social environment). This put simply, is an argument between nature and nurture.
Those who advocate the nature argument claim all aspects of human nature can be explained by biology. Charles Darwin, the founder of the theory of evolution, wrote...