Jacques-Yves Cousteau

In Gulliver's Travels, Swift unpacks certain dark aspects of human nature, namely, its innate selfishness. In contrast to modern theorists like Locke, who contend that the pursuit of self-interest will serve the common good, Swift underscores the potential for unleashing the beastliness in human nature, loosening the traditional moral constraints on avarice and ambition. As a commentary on the modern project, Swift introduces the crude and uncontrollably desirous "Yahoos," who, given the…

The Metamorphosis: In The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka suggests that the deep roots of societal values are determined, not by character, but by what others can you for oneself. Gregor Sansa is a man who fell victim to the selfish morals of others. In The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka suggests that societal values are based upon our own needs and are changed when those needs are distorted by external factors. Grete’s distortion towards her brother, Gregor, is evident when she asserts, “I won't…

Stoicism To counter stoicism, the play presents itself first as a stoic world. Frye indicates in his essay that Albany and Edgar stands for the moralist (111); and Moretti in “Great Eclipse” argues that King Lear is in-between an old feudalist society and a new absolutist society. However, these characters does not stand for a vague, universal ethics; and feudalism, as a political concept, must have a reciprocal relationship with cultural doctrine as to integrate the social and the political. I…

In political theory, the state of nature can be defined as an indication of the hypothetical conditions on how humans would behave or how their lives might have been before their inclusion within structured societies. Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are both political theorist who wrote their works based on their perspective on the state of nature extensively, we are able to distinguish their different point of views. Human nature by definition is “the general psychological…

In the Second Discourse on Inequality, Jean Jacque Rousseau outlined the origin and development of private property. The formation of the hut is the first step towards the ultimate creation of society as families and communities start to form. Unlike savage man who’s primary motivation was self-preservation, civilized man embraced amour propre as they begin to compare their strengths and abilities of others. Although Rousseau argues that the invention of private property is not natural, it is…

Can man live in the state of nature in a society? In John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, he explains that the Law of Nature governs the state of nature and teaches mankind. Locke also states that in order to be a part of society man must own property, namely land. Without the land he cannot be a part of a society. However, a society is not a government. A government protects the rights and property of the society through laws. Man cannot exist solely in the state of nature; in order to…

Utopias Are Created on Flawed Values Utopian stories have been around since men have seen the cruelty of the life they live. These stories can take a variety of forms from critical to dreamy. In 1516, Thomas More described his ideas of a perfect society in his novel Utopia. In Utopia, a friend called Ralph describes an island where everyone does his or her part, everyone’s needs are met, and people receive what they need without having to pay for it. Here criminals become slaves and are…

The Views of Hobbes and Locke with Cyberbullying The two philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are known as a result of their opinions about government as well as their different views of human nature. Locke believes that natural law tells an individual what they can or cannot achieve, trusting that people are good enough to govern themselves. Locke also describes the state of nature as perfect freedom following the law of nature. Having a larger negative view of human nature than Locke did,…

Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Hobbes were 18th and 17th century thinkers with similar, yet opposed theories about human nature. While Rousseau lived in an era of relative peace, Hobbes wrote his masterwork Leviathan during the English Civil War, this would have a great influence on his writings. Hobbes’s theory is based upon the supposition that human nature is naturally aggressive and selfish; whereas Rousseau believes that men only become evil once they join society, which corrupts them.…

Introduction: The educational movements in the 18th century were a striding path to new educational reforms in the 20th century .The 18th century educational initiatives were more focussed towards the students of upper and middle class elites who had a world view initiative that emphasized facts and truths rather than a faith based approach which was based on supernatural beliefs and ideas it was much similar to the renaissance’s movement that had an approach of looking at the past knowledge…