Posted: February 23rd, 2017

Does this account of human nature fit well with your own experience of human action?

Personal struggles with one’s own tendencies, desires, lusts, and self-interest have placed people in conflict with other people and their own communities farther back than any of us can read.  We read about the struggles of others in history — what about ourselves?  Yes, us!  What about our experiences of being ourselves?

When we look back in history, we find people who are not so different from us — struggling with their human nature — and trying to live ethical lives in whatever way they can do so.  They aspire to live ethical lifes and find themselves failing again and again.

St. Augustine  in the 5th Century held that although we feel free to make choices in life, our true nature as human beings includes a persistent disregard for what is good. On this view, we are sinners whose only hope for redemption lies in the gracious love of a merciful deity. Whatever I do on my own, Augustine would argue, is bound to be wrong; whatever I do right, must be performed by God through me.

St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th Century brought Aristotle’s theories back into “vogue,” soon after St. Augustine’s death (if 800 years is soon, that is.)  He allowed humanity to have a bit of secularity along with faith, and his ethics allows for a Natural Law which can be found in the heart of man.  Please be sure to listen to our Saints’ Debate on the lecture tab before working in this thread.

So, here we are in the 21st Century with all the sophistication and technology of the age.  Does this account of human nature fit well with your own experience of human action? That is, do you observe (in yourself and others) an inclination toward evil instead of toward good?  Bring in examples of scenarios which bolster your view, or which tend to bring your view (or others) into question.