Shaheena Puvaneshwaran
400065420
PHILOS 1B03
T12
Midterm – Choice 1
Hobbes and Kropotkin have very different opinions on the topic of human nature, however one is truer than the other. Hobbes’s view implies that humans are uncivilized, irrational beings who can only be tamed by an authoritative figure. Kropotkin makes valid, factual points about human behaviour proving that we can be a functioning society even without authority because we engage in mutual aid. Kropotkin’s view on human nature is accurate because it applies to real world experiences such as World War II, there is evidence of mutual aid in other species, and most importantly there is evidence in our evolutionary history.
Hobbes argues that without authority humans would not be able to function as rational beings. He claims that we become enemies with another when they have something that we desire . We have nothing to fear except another’s savage tendencies and what they will do to get what they want; stating that when one person has an advantage everyone else will try to take that away because it causes them distress . He points out that because of this natural human tendency to have competition with one another, if there is no power existing to keep us in control, our natural state would be of war, of constant battle with each other . This is what he calls the state of nature . Hobbes is implying that humans do not have self-restraint and …show more content…
"Human Nature." McMaster University, 7 Sept. 2017, Hamilton. Lecture.
Nazi Germany.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Oct. 2017, simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany.
Rosen, Michael, and Jonathan Wolff, editors. Political Thought. Mutual Aid., written by Peter Kropotkin. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 31-33.
Rosen, Michael, and Jonathan Wolff, editors. Political Thought. The Misery of the Natural Condition of Mankind., written by Thomas Hobbes. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp.
400065420
PHILOS 1B03
T12
Midterm – Choice 1
Hobbes and Kropotkin have very different opinions on the topic of human nature, however one is truer than the other. Hobbes’s view implies that humans are uncivilized, irrational beings who can only be tamed by an authoritative figure. Kropotkin makes valid, factual points about human behaviour proving that we can be a functioning society even without authority because we engage in mutual aid. Kropotkin’s view on human nature is accurate because it applies to real world experiences such as World War II, there is evidence of mutual aid in other species, and most importantly there is evidence in our evolutionary history.
Hobbes argues that without authority humans would not be able to function as rational beings. He claims that we become enemies with another when they have something that we desire . We have nothing to fear except another’s savage tendencies and what they will do to get what they want; stating that when one person has an advantage everyone else will try to take that away because it causes them distress . He points out that because of this natural human tendency to have competition with one another, if there is no power existing to keep us in control, our natural state would be of war, of constant battle with each other . This is what he calls the state of nature . Hobbes is implying that humans do not have self-restraint and …show more content…
"Human Nature." McMaster University, 7 Sept. 2017, Hamilton. Lecture.
Nazi Germany.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Oct. 2017, simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany.
Rosen, Michael, and Jonathan Wolff, editors. Political Thought. Mutual Aid., written by Peter Kropotkin. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 31-33.
Rosen, Michael, and Jonathan Wolff, editors. Political Thought. The Misery of the Natural Condition of Mankind., written by Thomas Hobbes. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp.