College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Political Philosophy/Society/Government

I had promised one of Info Ink’s premiere readers, Quin of Quintessential Havoc (go to blogroll and visit a thoughtful blog) for some time that I would write a post on human nature…..holy CRAP!  That was not as easy as one would think….there are so many aspects to the term ‘human nature’ that is was a daunting undertaking….but as I had promised……and it has been a long time in coming……so much thought…so little time…..

We hear this excuse used on oh so many levels…..it is an excuse for greed or voting results or a propensity for violence or electoral stupidity…..everything has been blamed on human nature….but what do we mean by the term?  My attempt will be veiled in political philosophy or as it pertains to the endeavor of politics and governance…..there are many other ways to look at the concept…….

When I think of human nature I think of two separate definitions….they are philosophical and psychological….or a narrow and broader definition……..in the narrow sense I think of what we call desires, drives, instincts, etc…..and in the broader sense I feel is the character and nature of the human experience….now if I try to explain both in the same post my head will likely explode and neither will be defined…….

In the more narrow sense, I do not believe that there is a human nature because humans NO longer seem to possess strong instincts or drives….I cannot even see the need for self-preservation……I DO see that we humans have a great propensity to put all our decisions in the hands of others…therefore we have NO responsibility for the failure of any given idea….we can always blame the “other” guy…..

In the beginning…..human nature encompassed such things as thinking, acting and feeling….and it was said that we humans possessed these things….as an abstract theory, then these things are possible….but since we live in reality….all I can say is look at politics for an example…….thinking?  Does the voting show that we actually spend any time thinking about our vote?  Or acting?  Does a voting rate of about 56% of a population sound like we take it seriously?  Feeling?  Now here is the one that we could say that we all have….a sense of feeling.  And it depends on how one acts upon such feelings……

So, we are back to the original thought…..what is the concept of human nature?  It is a highly subjective term…you can apply either logical to define or emotions….people today are told what their nature is by a wealth of institutions………I know that this may seem a bit incomplete but for the sake of insanity…….there are many so-called “definitions” of the term…..mine has been written and would like to hear what others have to say…….