Within the book Candide, human nature is debated and argued whether humans are mostly warlike and cause violence or that we are naturally born good, and that it is just our current state that makes us warlike. Candide suggests that humans cause violence almost everyday and every minute and almost every man and in the book is warlike. Almost every kingdom in Candide is at war and in this century, and small battles are very common. Although, the author of Candide, Voltaire, shows a great deal of violence, he argues that we are born good, without dangerous war instincts. In an article “Human Behavior: Killer Instincts” by Dan Jones, it is argued and scientifically shown that humans are not naturally violent. The article states, “It is scientifically
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Since we are not just “violently natured,” we go to war with others because of the more important reasons. In other words, we go to war because we believe in a cause or one side of it. So, some may feel that killing is the right thing to do for the right cause. To demonstrate this, the article states that the reason for war is not for violence, but for opposing and conflicting viewpoints and doing what people believe in what is right. A factor that hardens the barrier between our cousin chimpanzees, is propaganda and denigration during and before war times. Media and propaganda makes us feel certain actions, for example, fighting for our country, seem justified. The violence we cause feels morally bad, but at the same time, we feel we are doing the morally right thing. In Candide, we see the wars and battles taking place for no particular reason or just for one kingdom to expand territory or gain riches. In contrast, Candide, in his journey, starts out innocent and against violence, influenced by his teacher’s teachings, but over time he becomes more violent and defensive in order to protect himself and his fair love Cunegund. Under those circumstances, he kills an Inquisitor who owned Cunegund, and her brother who tried to kill him because he was trying to marry Cunegund. Furthermore, Candide feels what he did was justified, unlike the wars happening around him, shown to be just a midst of
Since we are not just “violently natured,” we go to war with others because of the more important reasons. In other words, we go to war because we believe in a cause or one side of it. So, some may feel that killing is the right thing to do for the right cause. To demonstrate this, the article states that the reason for war is not for violence, but for opposing and conflicting viewpoints and doing what people believe in what is right. A factor that hardens the barrier between our cousin chimpanzees, is propaganda and denigration during and before war times. Media and propaganda makes us feel certain actions, for example, fighting for our country, seem justified. The violence we cause feels morally bad, but at the same time, we feel we are doing the morally right thing. In Candide, we see the wars and battles taking place for no particular reason or just for one kingdom to expand territory or gain riches. In contrast, Candide, in his journey, starts out innocent and against violence, influenced by his teacher’s teachings, but over time he becomes more violent and defensive in order to protect himself and his fair love Cunegund. Under those circumstances, he kills an Inquisitor who owned Cunegund, and her brother who tried to kill him because he was trying to marry Cunegund. Furthermore, Candide feels what he did was justified, unlike the wars happening around him, shown to be just a midst of