Philosophies of the 17th Century Are People Bad, Good, or Something Else?

Or is it more complicated than that? What’s Human Nature? Basically, it’s the natural behavioural traits that humans share. The qualities we all share. If we didn’t have movies, laws, or peer pressure telling us how we should act, would we be good people? Are we born jerks and society straightens us out, or are we born nice and society corrupts us by tempting us with money and social status? Or is it more complicated than that?

John Locke 1632 - 1704 Core beliefs: Convinced that people were naturally born reasonable, tolerant, and cooperative. Sometimes they can be selfish, but that’s not their default position. Rulers should (and would) only stay in power if they have the support of the people. People have the right to rebel, and they have the right to live, own their own property, and be free. This is a “Constitutional Monarchy” where, basically, the ruler is a representative of the attitudes people agree with at the time. Church and state should be separated. You can’t make it illegal to not go to church, nor can it be illegal to believe the “wrong” religion.

Thomas Hobbes 1588 – 1679 (91 years old?!) Core beliefs: Convinced that if people were left alone without a strong government, they would quarrel amongst themselves. Thought that people were “nasty, brutish, and short-tempered.” The best type of government is one that has one ruler with complete, absolute power over the people. This is called “Absolute Monarchy.” From birth, people are inclined to lie, cheat, steal, and argue. The only reason people behave well is because society keeps them in line.

Hobbes the tiger from Calvin and Hobbes is named after philosopher Thomas Hobbes. Both share a generally negative perspective towards humans.

Say Whaaaaat? “If I read as many books as most men do, I would be as dull-witted as they are.” ― Thomas Hobbes "To love truth for truth's sake is the principal part of human perfection in this world, and the seed-plot of all other virtues." – John Locke The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of nature for his rule. – John Locke “The condition of man . . . is a condition of war of everyone against everyone.” ― Thomas Hobbes

“Hell is truth seen too late.” "Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours." – John Locke “Hell is truth seen too late.” ― Thomas Hobbes

Thoughts on Human Nature from Others “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” ― Albert Einstein “It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” ― Anne Frank, author of the world’s most famous diary “On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time.” ― George Orwell, author of 1984 “I guess I believe that people are born bad and society makes them good.” – Trey Parker, co- creator of South Park

Thoughts on Human Nature from Others “There is no shortage of fault to be found amid our stars.” ― John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars “I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.” ― Edgar Allan Poe, spooky poet “The only reason why we ask other people how their weekend was is so we can tell them about our own weekend.” ― Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club To prefer evil to good is not in human nature; and when a man is compelled to choose one of two evils, no one will choose the greater when he might have the less. – Plato, philosopher

Agree/Disagree Statements Humans are, at their core, fundamentally good. The environment we grow up in influences our behaviour more than our genetics. Without a government, humans would be fine looking after themselves. In a life or death situation, we see the true values and nature of humanity.